Avalanche kills 3 climbers in Scotland

FORT WILLIAM, Scotland, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Three climbers died Saturday when hit by an avalanche on a Scottish mountain, authorities said.

The climbers were part of a group climbing Buchaille Etive Mhor, a 3,353-foot mountain in Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands, The Glasgow Herald reported.

Military helicopters were sent to the area. The helicopters evacuated four people from the mountain, including one with a shoulder injury.

Five climbers escaped without injury. They were assisted by the Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team.

The climbers caught by the snow slide were from two different groups.

"It's a well-known area for climbers, but it's not an area for inexperienced climbers," said David Campbell, manager of the Glencoe Ski Center.

John Grieve, a veteran of 40 years of mountain rescues, told Scotland on Sunday the climbers who escaped the avalanche had dug two people out by the time he arrived. He also praised the helicopter pilots who braved difficult conditions.

Grieve said the snow carried the victims 500 feet down the mountain.

"It wasn't a particularly big avalanche, but it came surprisingly far down, and there would have been hundreds and hundreds of tons of snow." he said. "We've been up in that gully when people have been buried in 30 feet of snow. But these guys were buried in just a meter. That's enough, though."