Most of the useless and injured have been vacationers, some coming from Nepal or from Kolkata, Delhi or West Bengal in India, in accordance with a report by Sikkim authorities official Tushar Nikhare. Of the seven killed, at the least 5 have been of their 20s or 30s. The youngest individual killed, Rebya Singh, 6, was from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Members of the military, the catastrophe response pressure and the Border Roads Organization have been dispatched to hold out the rescue operation, the federal government report mentioned. At least 5 automobiles and 20 vacationers have been trapped within the fallen snow, it added.

Video of the rescue operation confirmed military members digging via the snow with shovels alongside a steep mountainside, alongside heavy snowplow equipment. Some carried away victims who had been pulled from the snow as a crowd watched.

The search-and-rescue operation was known as off at 6 p.m. due to “inclement weather,” the Sikkim authorities report mentioned. It will restart at 8 a.m. Wednesday, “to account for missing tourists, if any.”

“Distressed by the avalanche in Sikkim. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones,” the workplace of Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, including that “all possible assistance is being provided to those affected.”