India avalanche kills seven

An avalanche has killed seven tourists in India's Himalayan state of Sikkim near a mountain pass to the Chinese region of Tibet, with rescue workers calling off the search for bodies as night fell.

The army said at least 20 people had been rescued alive after several vehicles carrying tourists to the strategically located Nathu La pass between Sikkim and Tibet were hit by the falling snow.

Local police added that eight survivors were in critical condition.

"We are doing one more check before calling off the rescue operation, since it is getting dark and some more snow has started coming down," senior police official Tenzing Loden Lepcha told Reuters on phone.

"We have accounted for all missing persons, but to be sure we are doing one more check. We have also put out a helpline number for families."

Several avalanches have hit the Indian Himalayas over the last two years, killing at least 120 people. A peer reviewed study in the US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded in 2018 that climate change had enhanced avalanche risks in the Indian Himalayas.

The causes of Tuesday's disaster were not immediately clear.

Police official Loden Lepcha said it was a clear day after unseasonal rains in the area, adding that April was not known for avalanches.

The incident took place at 11.30am (0600 GMT), the army statement said. Rescue officials earlier said they feared at least 70 people were under the snow at the site, some 40 km from the state capital Gangtok.

Kavita Agarwal, a traveller from Delhi, told Reuters that local police had discouraged tourists from going to a lake that is on route Nathu La pass because of weather conditions.

When the avalanche hit, people were taking photographs near a stream, Loden Lepcha said. Rescue workers dug with shovels near a waterfall, images released by India's ministry of defence showed.

Yellow heavy machinery worked to clear the churned up snow left by the avalanche, the images showed.

An additional 350 stranded tourists and 80 vehicles were rescued after the snow was cleared from the road, the army statement said.