3 climbers killed in an avalanche in Washington state

Three members of a climbing group are dead after becoming caught in an avalanche while scaling an 8,000-foot peak in central Washington state over the weekend, officials announced.

A six-person group was attempting to climb a steep gorge on Colchuck Peak in the Cascade mountains on Sunday afternoon when the avalanche happened, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Four of the climbers were swept down about 500 feet, including the three who died “as a result of trauma sustained in the fall,” the release reads.

The three who died were buried by three additional slides that began about an hour after the initial avalanche, Rich Magnussen, emergency management program specialist for the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office told CNN.