Fourth killed in avalanche named (From News Shopper)

Fourth killed in avalanche named

2:45pm Monday 21st January 2013 in National News © Press Association 2013

The fourth person killed in an avalanche in the Scottish Highlands has been named by police.

Rachel Majumdar, 29, was a doctor working at Harrogate District Hospital in North Yorkshire. She was originally from Merseyside and was most recently living in Leeds, Northern Constabulary said.

The avalanche struck at about 2pm on Saturday as a group of six friends made their descent on Bidean Nam Bian in Glencoe.

PhD students Christopher Bell, 24, and Tom Chesters, 28, and 25-year-old junior doctor Una Finnegan were also swept to their deaths as they made their way down the mountain.

A 24-year-old woman from the Durham area, who was seriously hurt in the incident, remains in a critical condition in hospital in Glasgow.

Police identified the three other victims on Sunday but Dr Majumdar's name was withheld to allow her family members to inform other relatives.

Friends have said the group were experienced climbers who loved the mountains and were well-equipped for the trek.

Mr Bell, from Blackburn in Lancashire, was studying for a PhD in ocean mapping in Oban. His parents were reported to be too upset to comment from their home in Osbaldeston, near Blackburn, but a tribute was issued on the Facebook page of his father's decking business, Evabel.

Mr Chesters had been living in Leeds and working towards his PhD qualification at Hull University, while Ms Finnegan, originally from Coleraine in Co Londonderry, was a qualified doctor who lived in Edinburgh.

One man survived by leaping from the collapsing sheet of snow and hammering an ice axe into firmer ground.