The tourists were in the Tian Shen mountains of Kyrgyzstan where the avalanche occurred.
A group of British and American tourists survived an avalanche in the Angel Mountains of Kyrgyzstan. According to a video of the incident posted on social media by one of the tourists, snow covered them. The avalanche was caused by a glacier collapsing on top of the mountain where they were hiking. The group included nine British and one American tourists, according to The Guardian. The tourists all survived the avalanche although one woman had her knee cut and was taken to the nearest hospital on a horse.
Footage of the avalanche rolling toward the group was captured by Harry Shimmin, one of the tourists who had left the guided tour to take pictures.
“While taking pictures, I heard the deep crack of ice behind. I know the rest are further away from the snow so it’s okay,” he shared on Instagram when posting the avalanche video.
The visitor said he was there for a few minutes “so I knew there was a shelter right next to me.”
He said that if the group walked an extra five minutes on the ride, “we would all die”.
Mr. Shimmins added: “After the adrenaline rush was over. I was only covered with a light powder, not a scratch. I felt very giddy.”
After surviving the incident, the group laughed and cried, Mr. Shimmins said, adding, “It wasn’t until later that we realized how lucky we were.”
The video, uploaded just a day ago, has been viewed more than 1,800,000 times. It is always posted on Reddit, where the video has received over 88,000 votes.
