India - Peter Wittek, 37, Univ. of Toronto professor, Mount Trishul avalanche, 29 Sept 2019

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Toronto professor missing after avalanche hits climbing group in India
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A University of Toronto professor is missing in India after an avalanche struck during an expedition trip he was on.

Peter Wittek was climbing Mount Trishul, a Himalayan peak in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India, with five other mountaineers on Sunday when the avalanche occurred.

His brother, Gergo Oberfrank, said Wittek was resting in his tent at the time, situated at a peak of approximately 5,900 metres above sea level.

All but 37-year-old Wittek were able to escape.

“There was another person who was struck by the avalanche, but that person dug out and he or she survived,” Oberfrank told Global News by phone on Wednesday.

“My brother is still missing.”

A rescue team has been sent to the area, but it could take days to reach Camp 2, where Wittek was last seen.

“They’re still waiting for the search and rescue team to arrive,” the manager told Global News by phone. “It has been three days since he has been reported missing.”
 
Search on for climber lost in Himalayas
"Dr Peter Wittek, a research scientist who did his PhD in computer science at the National University of Singapore, was part of a team of six who were climbing the 7,120m-high Mount Trishul 1.

Officials in India told The Straits Times five members of the team, including three Singaporeans, are safe and a rescue operation for Dr Wittek, identified as a Hungarian national, has been launched.

Ms Swati Bhadoriya, district magistrate of Chamoli, identified the three Singaporeans as Kong Xieheng, Nicholas Chee and Ong Siong Hwai.

"While they were coming down (from Mount Tris-hul), they were hit by an avalanche. They (five members of the team) themselves came down to the base camp," Mr Sanjay Gunjiyal, inspector-general of police at the Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force, told ST.

"This is considered one of the toughest peaks in the world. It requires a lot of expertise. This particular patch is highly avalanche-prone," he added.

A rescue team of six is on its way, he said, but it could take at least three days to reach the spot where Dr Wittek was last seen."
 
Thanks for the link!
''Peter Wittek disappeared in September 2019 when an avalanche hit their camp during an expedition on Mount Trishul. Peter was a researcher on quantum computing and quantum machine learning based in Toronto, and is dearly missed in the community.

Shortly before this tragic event, Peter and Vedran Dunjko submitted a perspective article to Quantum Views – a non-review of quantum machine learning. This article offers a last glimpse of his views on quantum machine learning and is a good starting point for those entering the field''.
 

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