3 October : At least 15 expedition workers have been killed in a massive snow avalanche at a Himalayan mountain camp in central Nepal. Rescue teams are continuing efforts to recover bodies buried beneath the snow. Qatar-based Al Jazeera reported the development on Friday, 2 October.
Tula Singh Gurung, president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, said the avalanche struck the base camp of Himlung Peak, near the Chinese border, early Sunday. The 7,126-metre (23,335-foot) mountain is a popular destination for climbers preparing to attempt peaks above 7,000 metres.
Nepali workers were at the base camp at the time, setting up tents and fixing ropes in preparation for upcoming mountaineering expeditions.
Gurung said the recovered bodies are expected to be flown by helicopter to Kathmandu. One worker remains missing. He said the chances of finding the missing worker alive were extremely slim given the depth of the snow and added that preparations were underway to gradually wind down the rescue operation.
No foreign climbers had reached the base camp when the avalanche occurred, Gurung said.
Eleven rescuers, including experienced mountain guides, are involved in the search operation. They are removing more than four metres of snow that buried the tents at the base camp in an effort to locate the remaining bodies.
Two mountain guides were recovered on Sunday. The bodies of two kitchen workers were found the following day, Monday, while another three bodies were recovered on Tuesday.
Nepal has experienced several major mountaineering disasters in the past. In 2014, an avalanche on Mount Everest killed 16 people. The following year, 18 people died in the Everest region after a powerful earthquake struck Nepal.
Eight of the world’s 14 highest mountain peaks are located in Nepal. Mountaineering and trekking tourism play an important role in the country’s economy. Himlung Mountain is also a popular destination for climbers preparing to scale peaks above 7,000 metres.
Source: Al Jazeera