New Delhi: Avalanches are disastrous natural forces, made of swiftly flowing snow, ice, and rock that guarantee annihilation for any human settlements in their way. They are caused by atypical precipitation, glacier debris or any form of external stress on compact snow.In the last 10 years avalanches showed their deadly potential, claiming an average of 25 lives each winter season. Such a substantial loss of life is not unusual when an avalanche hits. Snow and sediment weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds can speed down mountainsides at hundreds of miles per hour, destroying anything in its path.Here's a look at the deadliest avalanches in history: 1. Yungay, Peru An avalanche on Mount Huascaran, Peru, buried the town of Yungay in snow and ice in May 1970. The incident killed approximately 18,000 people. 2. Blons, Austria Over 200 people died in the village of Blons, western Austria, in January 1954 following two avalanches. Many of the rescue works who were digging out victims of the first avalanche were killed by the second. 3. Dolomites, Italy December 13 1916 became known as White Friday after thousands of soldiers from Austria-Hungary and Italy were killed by a number of avalanches in the Dolomites. 4. Mont Blanc, France Eight climbers were killed after being swept down Mont Blanc du Tacul in August 2008. The dead included victims from Germany, Switzerland and Austria. 5. Pamir Mountains on Lenin's Peak, Kyrgyzstan An avalanche, reportedly triggered by a mild earthquake, killed 40 climbers in the remote Pamir mountains in the Soviet Union near the Chinese border in July 1990. The victims were from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Israel, Switzerland and Spain. 6. Plurs, Switzerland The Swiss town of Plurs was buried by an avalanche in September 1618. The catastrophe claimed the lives of over 2,000 people. 7. K2, Pakistan/China Eleven mountaineers on the world's second highest mountain, K2, were killed in August 2008 when an avalanche swept away their fixed ropes after they had scaled the summit. 8. North Ossetia, Russia At least 125 people were killed as the Kolka glacier collapsed on the Russian village of Nijni Karmadon in September 2010. 9. Salang Pass, Afghanistan Some 165 people died when hundreds of motorists were trapped in their vehicles on a mountain pass connecting the Afghan capital Kabul with the north of the country.Over three miles of road were covered in snow and ice by over 20 avalanches in February 2010. 10. Lahaul Valley, India A series of snowstorms over a five-day period results in avalanches that cascade down the foothills of the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh state, dumping up to 20 feet of snow on the inhabited valley.
