Two climbers killed, two injured in Iran during heavy snowfall

FILE PHOTO: A general view shows the Tochal ski resort, in north of Tehran, Iran December 12, 2019. Picture taken December 12, 2019. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo

Two climbers were killed and two others injured on Friday on a mountain outside Iran’s capital Tehran during heavy snowfall and a blizzard, the country’s emergency unit said.

Mojtaba Khaledi, spokesman for the state emergency services, told state television the incident occurred on the summit of Kolakchal.

One media report said the climbers fell to their deaths.

Earlier, the head of the Iran Red Crescent Society’s search and rescue unit told state TV that an avalanche in Kolakchal had killed one climber and another was feared dead.

In later broadcasts, he and other officials said there had in fact been no avalanche, but they did not provide details of how the climbers died.

Rescuers were also dispatched to two other summits north of Tehran where other climbers were stranded, the officials said.

Tehran lies at the foot of the Alborz mountain range, where there are several ski resorts. Heavy snow in several parts of the country has closed many roads.