UR MAG

A group of close friends and experienced skiers had long planned a backcountry trip in the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains, but their trek ended in tragedy as a football-field-sized crush of snow and ice overtook their tour.

A skier cried "avalanche!" in the remote stretch of the mountains, but the group was soon overcome by the deluge Tuesday, the sheriff said.

Six of those friends, mothers and wives, are now counted among nine killed or presumed dead in theavalanche near California's Lake Tahoe- the deadliest avalanche the US has seen in 45 years.

The group of 15, including four guides, had embarked on the three-day backcountry expedition over Presidents' Day weekend and was on its final day, heading back to the trailhead, when the tragedy struck.

Six survivors were rescued, but the effort to recover bodies has since been hindered by days of heavy snow and risky conditions.

California's workplace safety agency is now investigating Blackbird Mountain Guides, the tour company that organized the trip,CNN affiliate KXTVreported.

Blackbird has said all of the guides with the group arehighly trained, including being certified instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.

Experienced skiers on a long-planned trip

The members of the tight-knit friend group who died were identified in a statement by their families as Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt. The women were described as passionate skiers who cherished their time together in the mountains.

They were experienced in the backcountry conditions, were prepared for the rough travel and had avalanche safety equipment, according to the statement. They also weren't alone: their group of 15 total included four experienced guides.

But the conditions that day proved to be severe. While two members of the friend group and four others on the trip were rescued from the aftermath Tuesday, the family members of nine others, including three guides, received devastating news. The bodies of eight had been left on the icy mountainside, and one other was still missing, presumed dead among the blanket of snow.

"We are devastated beyond words," the families' statement read. "We are heartbroken and are doing our best to care for one another and our families in the way we know these women would have wanted."

Sekar and Clabaugh were sisters, their brother toldThe New York Times, who said he was wounded to have lost both of them.

"These are two of the best people I've ever known," McAlister Clabaugh told the newspaper. "They were incredible sisters, mothers, wives and friends. And the idea that they are both gone is, I don't even know how to put it into words."

The six friends lived in the Bay Area, Idaho, and the Truckee–Tahoe region, the statement said.

Sekar's neighbor described her as "a wonderful human being who loved life," KXTV reported. She was "a very vibrant person, one of the nicest people I've ever known."

Vitt "seemed like a super friendly, great mom," one of her neighbors, Carleen Cullen, told KXTV. "She was just always out there with her kids and getting them hustled off to school and after-school activities."

"Our hearts go out to those that lost their lives and a community of skiers, a community of families from the Bay Area," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday, noting his wife had a connection to some of the victims.

"Turns out (we have) a lot of mutual friends in Marin County. Just learning some of my wife's old family friends," he told reporters at an event in the Bay Area.

"I've been in that area many, many times. Stayed in those cabins just a year or so ago, and very mindful of the terrain and the nature of this," Newsom added, referring to huts the group stayed in during the trip.

Recovery efforts after historic avalanche prove challenging

The deadliest avalanche in California's recorded history has drawn rescue and recovery resources from as far as Los Angeles — about 500 miles away.

Incident response teams are waiting for a break in the storm when they may safely trek back to the rough terrain, which officials described as "vertical in nature," to bring home the bodies.

"Due to hazardous weather conditions, avalanche victims cannot be safely extracted off the mountain today. Recovery efforts are expected to carry into the weekend," the Nevada County Sheriff's Office said in an update on Thursday.

"We're kind of at the will of Mother Nature at this point," Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Crews face the ongoing threat of additional avalanches on Thursday with over a foot of snow in the area. Sustained winds reaching up to 20 mph, punctuated with even stronger gusts, will whip up snow and limit visibility, hampering teams' ability to navigate the mountainside.

"Extreme weather conditions, I would say, is an understatement," Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said on Wednesday.

The battering snow is expected to subside Thursday night, offering rescuers a reprieve on Friday and the weekend.

Even on a good day, the area is not for the inexperienced.

"It's a very remote, rugged area on the north side of the highway there. It is not a groomed area or a ski resort area. This is a backcountry area," Moon said.

As a result of the avalanche, the Tahoe National Forest closed all lands and trails in the Castle Peak areauntil March 15, forest officials announced Thursday.

"Due to the current instability of the snowpack and need to prioritize first responder access to the area, members of the public are prohibited from entering the closure area," officials said in asocial media post.

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Conditions were ripe for an avalanche

Fifteen people were on the guided trip this week, officials said. Blackbird Mountain Guides said six clients and three guides are among those killed, while five clients and one guide survived the avalanche.

The survivors consist of four men and two women; those confirmed and presumed dead include seven women and two men, Moon said.

One of the people killed was the spouse of a Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue team member, making the search and recovery effort particularly wrenching for their personnel, Woo said.

Some of the victims were also members of the Sugar Bowl Academy community, a private school and ski training center located near the avalanche site, the academy said in a statement.

The Blackbird Mountain Guides group had spent three days traversing Castle Peak's wild terrain and staying in huts near Donner Summit — an area that before 2020 was closed to the public for nearly a century.

As the group made their way back to civilization Tuesday morning, one of the skiers spotted an oncoming avalanche, said Nevada County sheriff's operations Capt. Rusty Greene, citing a survivor's account.

Moon said the avalanche wasclassifiedas a 2.5 on a five-level scale that measures the destructive potential of moving avalanche debris.

"A two would bury a person. A three would bury a house, and it's right in the middle of those two," Moon told CNN.

The snowpack the skiers had been traveling on had a weak layer that had been loaded up with snow, making conditions ripe for an avalanche, according to Chris Feutrier, USDA forest supervisor for the Tahoe National Forest. The area was under the second-highest level, a 4 of 5, of an avalanche threat Tuesday.

Seconds of disaster, hours of harrowing wait

At 11:30 a.m., the Nevada County dispatch center received a 911 call reporting the avalanche, Moon said. Though dozens of search and rescue personnel swarmed to the area, it would take crews several hours to reach the group in "horrific" conditions, she said.

"Lots of snow, gale force winds, winds making it impossible to see," Moon said of the conditions. For their own safety, rescue crews had to proceed at a "slow and steady pace."

As the surviving skiers — some of whom were injured — waited, they scrambled to form a makeshift shelter and stay warm, Moon said. They also attempted to find the rest of their group, and were able to locate three bodies before rescuers arrived.

Before rescue units arrived on the scene, they knew at least six people had survived. The surviving group had been communicating with them via emergency beacons and iPhone SOS signals, Moon said. One of the guides was able to communicate with rescuers by text during the hours crews were trying to reach them.

By around 5:30 p.m., rescuers were able to reach the avalanche site, Moon said. With no road to the remote scene, they drove as far as they could on a snowcat, a specialized snow vehicle equipped with large treads, before they had to ski the rest of the way.

Two of the survivors were unable to walk due to their injuries, the sheriff said. Rescuers were able to get them over two miles of snow to the awaiting snowcats. Two people rescued were later transported to hospital, authorities said.

The bodies of the skiers killed in the avalanche had to be left behind, authorities explained, as the sheer terrain and extreme weather made it dangerous for first responders to coordinate their removal.

Tuesday's tragedy marks the deadliest avalanche in the US since 1981, when 11 people died in an avalanche on Ingraham Glacier on Mount Rainier in Washington, according to theAssociated Press.

Guides were highly trained

Blackbird Mountain Guides said all four guides on the trip were American Mountain Guides Association trained or certified in backcountry skiing and guides in the field had been in communication with senior guides at their base about conditions and route decisions.

Blackbird said it is still working to understand exactly what happened and that investigations are underway.

The company suspended all field operations through at least February 22, as it supports families and staff.

"We ask that people following this tragedy refrain from speculating. We don't have all the answers yet, and it may be some time before we do. In the meantime, please keep those impacted in your hearts," the company said.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) said Thursday it has up to six months to complete its investigation into Blackbird Mountain Guides and issue citations if workplace safety regulations were violated, KXTV reported.

CNN has reached out to Cal/OSHA, the sheriff's department and Blackbird Mountain Guides.

Rescue mission turns into recovery operation

Though survivors made it safely off the mountain, families of the deceased are enduring a dayslong wait to be reunited with their loved ones' remains. The mission, Moon said, has gone "from a rescue to a recovery."

Authorities have been in regular contact with the families, but the Nevada County Sheriff's Office said Thursday it is unable to confirm the identifications, ages or cities of origin for all of the deceased victims "until the recovery mission is completed."

"It's a difficult conversation to have with loved ones," Moon said Wednesday. "I can't even imagine the amount of questions and stress that those families are going through right now."

A community vigil in memory of the victims will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday in downtown Truckee. Additionally, there will be an interfaith service at Church of the Mountains at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

"The best thing we can do is surround our athletes and families with care and support while providing the necessary space and time for grief and healing," Stephen McMahon, executive director of the Sugar Bowl Academy, said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN's Chris Dolce, Mary Gilbert, Cindy Von Quednow, Martin Goillandeau and Chimaine Pouteau contributed to this report.

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland will use antipersonnel as well as anti-tank land mines to defend its eastern border against the growing threat from Russia, Poland's deputy defense minister told The Associated Press on Friday as the country officially left an international convention banning the use of the controversial weapons.

The 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, prohibits signatories from keeping or using antipersonnel mines, which can last for years and are known for having caused large-scale suffering among civilians in former conflict zones in countries including Cambodia, Angola and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Poland, which ratified the document in 2012 and completed the destruction of its domestic anti-personnel mine stockpile in 2016, withdrew from the treaty on Friday and says it plans to renew manufacturing weapons.

"These mines are one of the most important elements of the defense structure we are constructing on the eastern flank of NATO, in Poland, on the border with Russia in the north and with Belarus in the east," Paweł Zalewski, Poland's deputy defense minister, said.

He said Poland needed to defend itself against Russia, a country which "has very aggressive intentions vis a vis its neighbors" and which itself never committed to the international land mine ban treaty.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nearby countries have been reassessing their participation in the international treaty. Last year, Warsaw joinedFinland, the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Ukraineto announceit would leave the treaty.

Russia is one of nearly three dozen countries thathave never accededto the Ottawa treaty, alongside the United States.

Poland vows to make its own mines

Zalewski said that Poland will begin domestic production of both antipersonnel and anti-tank land mines, adding that the government would cooperate with Polish producers. He said Poland was aiming for self-sufficiency.

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Land mines are an explosive weapon that's placed on or just under the ground and blows up when a person or a vehicle crosses over them. Anti-tank mines, which are designed not to be triggered by a person's weight, are not forbidden by the Ottawa Convention.

Speaking on Thursday after attending a demonstration of Bluszcz, an unmanned vehicle designed to distribute anti-tank mines produced by Polish company Belma S.A. and a military research institute, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland would "soon" have the ability to mine its eastern borders within 48 hours in case of a threat.

Given the length of the country's eastern borders, he said, "a lot" of land mines will be needed.

Poland says it will only use mines in case of 'realistic threat of Russian aggression'

Poland plans to prepare mine stockpiles as part of the so-calledEastern Shield, a system of enhanced fortifications Poland has been building on its borders with Belarus and Russia since 2024, Zalewski said.

But he said that Poland would only deploy the mines along its borders "when there is a realistic threat of Russian aggression."

"We very much respect our territory and we don't want to exclude it from day to day use for the Polish citizens," Zalewski said.

Human rights groups have condemned moves to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, arguing that anti-personnel mines are too dangerous to civilians.

But Zalewski responded that the country is striking a balance by keeping the mines in reserve unless the country faces attack.

"We are not an aggressive country," he said, "but we have to use all means to deter Russia."

By Abhirami G and Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The United States is in "active negotiation" over the sale of Venezuelan oil to India, to help India diversify its sources ‌of crude oil, U.S. Envoy Sergio Gor said on Friday.

The U.S. has made diversification away ‌from Russian crude a condition for cutting tariffs on goods imported from Indian, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer.

"The Department ​of Energy is speaking to the Ministry of Energy here, and so we're hoping to have some news of that very soon," Gor told reporters on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi where India joined the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative aimed at building a silicon supply chain for high-tech products.

U.S. President ‌Donald Trump this month agreed to ⁠cut tariffs on Indian goods to 18% under an interim trade deal. He also removed a 25% punitive levy after India agreed to end the purchase of ⁠Russian oil, which the U.S. said helps fund Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He said India would buy more oil from the U.S. and potentially Venezuela.

A final trade deal with India will be signed "sooner than later" as a "few ​tweaking points" ​are required, Gor said, adding Trump has been invited ​to India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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The ‌interim trade deal is set to become effective in April and the U.S. is likely to issue a formal notification this month to reduce its tariff on Indian goods to 18%, India's trade minister, Piyush Goyal, said on Friday.

The U.S. and allies imposed sanctions on Russia's energy sector following Russia's 2022 invasion. India then became the top customer for Russian seaborne crude which it bought at rock-bottom prices, ‌to the consternation of Western nations.

"On the oil, there's an ​agreement... We have seen India diversify on their oil. There ​is a commitment. This is not about ​India. The United States doesn't want anyone buying Russian oil," Gor said.

The U.S. had ‌pitched the sale of Venezuelan oil to ​India to help replace Russian ​oil imports, Reuters reported last month.

It granted licences to trading houses Vitol and Trafigura to market and sell millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil after capturing Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last ​month and reaching a supply ‌agreement with interim president Delcy Rodriguez.

State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum as ​well as private-sector refiners Reliance Industries and HPCL-Mittal Energy have ordered Venezuelan oil, Reuters has ​reported.

(Addition Reporting by Manoj Kumar Editing by Christopher Cushing)

No. 19 Vanderbilt hosts in-state rival Tennessee on Saturday in Nashville for one of the most significant recent matchups in the 104-year history of the series.

Vanderbilt (21-5, 8-5 Southeastern Conference) enters the game looking up at the Vols (19-7, 9-4), in a three-way tie for second place. If the season ended now, Tennessee would have one of the four coveted double byes -- and the Commodores would not -- in the SEC tournament that takes place March 11-15, two miles from Vanderbilt's campus.

Vanderbilt stood 15th in Thursday's NCAA NET rankings -- four spots ahead of the Vols -- to make this a Quad 1 game for both teams. The Commodores are 7-4 in such games while the Vols are just 4-7.

Vanderbilt must recover from Wednesday's emotionally and physically draining 81-80 loss at Missouri.

Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt's only active point guard since Duke Miles hit the sidelines with a knee issue following an 88-56 win Jan. 24 at Mississippi State, played through the flu to compete for 38 minutes, score 27 points, dish out five assists, collect three steals and nearly deliver a miracle at the end.

Vanderbilt trailed by 21 with 8:43 left. Tanner, who contributed all over the floor in a late run, leaped for a steal with less than two seconds left, landed and launched a shot two steps behind the midcourt line that went halfway in before bouncing out.

"You could tell (Tanner) was sick in the first half; he wasn't as aggressive," Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. "Then, he shook it off. I think he got caught in the competitiveness of the game. Then, he looked at the score and realized what we needed to do, and he almost brought us back."

Miles (16.6 points, 2.8 steals per game) could return at any time, but he was listed as "out" on the SEC's availability report before the Missouri game.

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The 175-pound Tanner, who averages 35.5 minutes in SEC games, has taken a physical beating from defenders lately. When Tanner picked up his fourth foul with more than 10 minutes left in last Saturday's win over Texas A&M, Tyler Nickel (14.7 points per game, 1.3 assists per game) and AK Okereke (9.3 ppg, 1.7 apg) uncharacteristically shared primary ball-handling duties for about a six-minute stretch.

Tennessee long has had a reputation for physical play under coach Rick Barnes. The Vols clobbered Oklahoma on the boards, 36-19, in Wednesday's 89-66 home win.

Size has given Vanderbilt fits and that makes Tennessee's 6-foot-10 freshman star Nate Ament, who leads the Vols in scoring (18.2 ppg), a concerning matchup. During Tennessee's 7-1 run over the last month, Ament has averaged 24.3 points.

The Vols also rely on a single point guard in Ja'Kobi Gillespie (18.1 ppg), who has played at least 34 minutes in each of the last five games.

Tennessee ranks as the country's top offensive rebounding team, grabbing 45.2% of its own misses per KenPom.com. The Vols are led by Jaylen Carey, who ranks sixth in the country at grabbing offensive boards (18.1%).

Carey played his first year at James Madison for Byington before following him to Vanderbilt last year. The junior minced no words after leaving Vanderbilt, something the Commodore crowd will likely remember on Saturday.

"I don't like (Vanderbilt)," Carey said last summer in one of several parting shots directed at his former team. "... Like I said, it was a great experience (playing against Tennessee). I love this place and can't wait to do big things in the Big Orange."

The teams will meet in Knoxville on March 7, the regular-season finale for each.

--Field Level Media

Second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference will be on the line Saturday afternoon when Miami visits No. 14 Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers (23-3, 11-2 ACC) and the Hurricanes (21-5, 10-3) trail only No. 3 Duke in the league standings.

Virginia is 12-1 at home and is riding a seven-game winning streak. The Cavaliers have won eight of the last nine meetings with Miami, which is 6-1 on the road and riding a four-game winning streak.

The teams extended their streaks in very different ways earlier this week. Miami held off Virginia Tech on Tuesday for its second consecutive one-point win, while Virginia reached 90 points for the sixth time this season in a 26-point blowout at Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

The Cavaliers cruised to a comfortable 94-68 win after running out to a 59-27 halftime lead against the Yellow Jackets. Thijs De Ridder scored 22 points and Malik Thomas added 17 as Virginia made 14 3-pointers and outrebounded Georgia Tech by a 51-34 margin, including 20 offensive boards.

"That start was something we've been looking for, for a couple games," Virginia guard Dallin Hall said. "Obviously, you don't know if it's going to be to that degree, but our intensity, our energy, the way we shared the ball, the pace we played with, and defensively we were dictating what they were doing offensively."

Hall recorded his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 assists.

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"That was fun," Hall said. "I love when the basketball is skipping around. That's exactly what it was. We were finding the open man, and getting stops really allowed us to get out and run to be in those positions."

Miami trailed the Hokies 34-31 at the half before rallying. Tre Donaldson scored the Hurricanes' final 15 points and finished with 32. He made the game-tying 3-pointer with 1:18 left and sank the decisive free throw with 12 seconds remaining.

"I was telling the guys -- he was unconscious," Miami coach Jai Lucas said of Donaldson's heroics. "... I'm blessed to be able to call him my point guard night in and night out. He's always in the gym, first one there, last one out, extra reps all the time. So him making that shot -- it's Tre."

Donaldson said the unranked Hurricanes still have more to prove.

"We're happy, but we're not satisfied," he said. "We have a chip on our shoulder. We're not going to talk about it. Just continue to push, get better as a team and prove everybody wrong and go hunting and get what we deserve."

De Ridder leads four Cavaliers scoring in double figures with 15.9 points plus a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game. Malik Reneau (19.7) and Donaldson (16.4) are the leading scorers for the Hurricanes.

Virginia forward Devin Tillis is questionable after leaving Wednesday's win with an apparent right knee injury. After missing the first four games of the season while recovering from knee surgery, the senior transfer from UC Irvine has averaged 5.1 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 39.2% from 3-point range in 22 games (one start).

--Field Level Media