Nepal avalanche kills 4 workers preparing Himalayan base camp, 12 remain missing
Eight mountain guides searched through snow after a slab avalanche buried tents on Mount Himlung, where Nepali workers were preparing for climbing season.
Heavy rain triggered deadly floods and landslides in India and Nepal, killing at least 70 people, as rising rivers and additional flash flooding threaten parts of Nepal.
Eight experienced mountain guides searched through snow Monday for 12 workers still missing after an avalanche buried a base camp on Nepal’s Mount Himlung, killing at least four people.
The avalanche struck early Sunday at the base camp on the 23,380-foot peak in the Nar Phu area of Manang district, near Nepal’s border with China. It buried tents used by Nepali climbing guides and kitchen workers who had arrived ahead of foreign clients to prepare for the autumn climbing season.
(Photo credit: Nepal National Mountain Guide Association)
The Nepal National Mountain Guide Association initially received reports that 16 workers were missing: 14 kitchen staff members from two expedition teams and two climbing guides. Rescuers found two bodies Sunday and recovered two more Monday, leaving 12 people unaccounted for. Ten people were rescued.
"There were a total of 14 kitchen staff members and two climbing guides from different companies who were missing. The two climbing guides have been found, but sadly, both were found deceased," NNMGA reported on Facebook. "We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of both guides. The search for the remaining kitchen staff members is ongoing."
The workers were preparing the camp and climbing route before clients arrived, a largely behind-the-scenes job that makes high-altitude expeditions possible. None of the people killed or missing were foreign climbers.
Mountain guides search through snow for workers still missing after an avalanche buried a base camp on Nepal’s Mount Himlung, killing at least four people. (Photo credit: Nepal National Mountain Guide Association)
Bad weather delayed the rescuers’ arrival until Sunday evening, according to Mingma G. Sherpa, the mountaineer leading the operation.
“We could have saved lives but due to bad weather, we reached the accident site only in the evening [on Sunday],” Sherpa wrote on Facebook Sunday night. "My amazing cook, Ash, and his assistant, Kirte, are missing in the avalanche. The rest of my team is safe. We tried our best to convince them to leave Base Camp since Friday and move to the lower valley, but they did not take our warnings seriously and ignored them. We still hope to find our friends alive."
Improving conditions allowed the eight-member rescue team to dig through snow that had covered the tents Monday. Helicopters carried the bodies to Kathmandu, where relatives gathered at a hospital morgue.
(Photo credit: Nepal National Mountain Guide Association - NNMGA)
The avalanche struck as Nepal was already dealing with widespread severe weather. Heavy rain had triggered flooding and landslides across Manang district, where Mount Himlung is located, the district administration office said, and officials had issued weather warnings nationwide.
At least 21 people were killed and five remained missing in weather-related disasters between Thursday and Sunday, according to the Nepal's disaster management agency.
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