The tourists were in Kyrgyzstan’s Tian Shen mountains where the avalanche struck.
A group of British and American tourists survived an avalanche in Kyrgyzstan’s Tian Shen mountains. The snow swept over them, according to a footage of the incident posted on social media by one of the tourists. The avalanche was caused by a glacier that collapsed on top of the mountain where they were hiking. The group included nine British and one American tourists, according to The Guardian. All the tourists survived the avalanche although one woman cut her knee and was rushed to the nearest hospital on a horse.
The footage of the avalanche of ice hurtling towards the group was captured by Harry Shimmin, one of the tourists who had broken away from the guided tour to take photographs.
“While I was taking pictures I heard the sound of deep ice cracking behind me. I knew the rest of the group was further away from the avalanche so should be okay,” he said on Instagram whole posting the video of the avalanche.
The tourist said that he had been there for a few minutes “so I knew there was a spot for shelter right next to me.”
He said that if the group had walked five minutes further on the trek, “we would all be dead”.
“Once it was over the adrenaline rush hit me hard. I was only covered in light powder, without a scratch. I felt giddy,” Mr Shimmins further said.
After surviving the incident, the whole group was laughing and crying, said Mr Shimmins, adding, “It was only later we realised just how lucky we’d been.”
The video, uploaded just a day ago, has been viewed more than 1,86,000 times. It has always been posted on Reddit where the video has received more than 88,000 votes.