On Nov. 24, an avalanche hit nine members of a climbing party on 4,150m San Boran Peak. It is the highest mountain of the Oshtorankuh range in western Iran.
According to the IRNA news agency, the climbers started up a day earlier, despite warnings from local authorities about dangerous conditions. In the last few weeks, there has been heavy rain, and it snowed higher up.
After the avalanche hit, rescuers took four injured climbers to the hospital, but another five remained missing. Later that day, two bodies were found, and on Saturday, with the help of the Red Crescent, the other three bodies were located.
The Oshtorankuh range is part of the Zagros Mountains of Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. Oshtorankuh in Persian means “mountain of camels.” Its eight peaks over 4,000m look like a caravan of camels. San Boran is about 300km southwest of Tehran.
This is not Iran’s first major avalanche calamity. In 2020, a series of slides killed 12 people in the mountains. Mountaineering is not recommended here in late autumn and winter because of the dangerous terrain.
The area of Iran where the avalanche took place. Map: Wikipedia
