India's mountaineering foundation has launched a ground expedition on a notoriously dangerous Himalayan mountain to retrieve the bodies of five climbers believed to be from a missing team of international climbers.

The foundation spokesman Amit Chaudhary says a fully equipped 12-member team hopes to reach the area where the bodies have been spotted by Saturday. Helicopter missions have failed to reach the area at an altitude of 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) due to strong turbulence.

Veteran British mountaineer Martin Moran led the team of four Britons, two Americans, an Australian and an Indian on the expedition on Nanda Devi East.

Moran's Scotland-based company said contact with the team was lost on May 26 following an avalanche. All eight missing climbers are feared dead.