Himalayan climbers’ last moments revealed in video taken before avalanche

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officials have released a video that shows the final moments of eight mountaineers who were swept away by an avalanche.

The international team consisting of four Britons, two Americans, one Australian and an Indian were attempting to climb Nanda Devi, the second-highest mountain in India.

They changed course on May 26 to climb a remote peak near Pithoragarh where they were killed in an avalanche.

Nearly a month after the incident, on June 23, an ITBP search team retrieved the bodies of the seven mountaineers - John McLaren, Rupert Whewell and Richard Payne (Britons), Anthony Sudekum and Ronald Beimel (US nationals), Ruth McCance (Australian) and Chetan Pandey (Indian).

An eighth climber, the British team leader Martin Moran, is still missing.

The video was retrieved from a helmet-mounted Go pro camera, which was found buried in the snow close to the area where the bodies were found.

The footage shows the climbers ascending a snow-clad track and ends with a loud thud. ITBP officials said the sound could be of the avalanche that claimed their lives.

"Suddenly we notice a loud noise. The video goes blank and stops," said Vivek Kumar Pandey, spokesman for the ITBP.