India rescuers search for missing climbers on Himalayan peak

An Indian official says rescuers are trying to find eight mostly foreign mountaineers who went missing while attempting to scale India's second-highest mountain.

The team, led by British climber Martin Moran, began its ascent May 13 to summit up a previously unclimbed peak on Nanda Devi East at 6,477 meters (21,250 feet), according to Moran Mountain, Moran's Scotland-based company. The team comprises four Britons, two Americans, an Australian and an Indian liaison officer.

Vijay Kumar Jogdande, a civil administrator in northern India's Uttarakhand state, says four other team members who stayed back at base camp were brought down Sunday. He says a search is ongoing for the eight missing.

Nanda Devi is sandwiched between India and China and is the world's 23rd-highest peak, reaching 7,816 meters (25,643 feet).