Himlung Himal avalanche: 12 Nepalese workers missing as rescue begins
A 14-member rescue team has been deployed to search for 12 Nepalese workers and guides who went missing after an avalanche on Himlung Himal in Nepal's Manang district, officials said on Monday. The operation began after the team was flown to the mountain's base camp.
The avalanche struck the base camp of the 7,126-metre Himlung Himal peak in the Nar Phu area and buried a tent where nine climbers and 13 support staff were taking shelter. Officials said the search has been complicated by bad weather and difficult mountain conditions.
The search team is being led by Mingma G Sherpa, operator of Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition and an international mountain guide, The Kathmandu Post reported. The team left Kathmandu on Sunday and stayed overnight in Chame before being flown by helicopter to the Himlung base camp on Monday morning.
Senior Captain Pasang Norbu Sherpa of Prabhu Helicopter said the rescue team was taken to the base camp on Monday morning. "We took the rescue team to the Himlung base camp this morning," Sherpa said. He said the search began after the helicopter dropped the team at the base camp. Guides experienced in high-altitude work are searching likely locations and assessing the situation.
Meanwhile, the bodies of two people who died in the avalanche are being flown from Chame Hospital to Kathmandu. A Kailash Helicopter chopper will take them to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, the report said. More than two dozen Nepali high-altitude workers and guides from Himalayan Holidays and Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition had travelled from Kathmandu to Himlung about two weeks ago to prepare for the climbing season. They had been working on the climbing route and preparing the base camp.
Nepal's mountain districts have seen persistent rain and snow in recent days, creating treacherous conditions for climbers. The latest deaths of Nepalese climbers come as Nepal is still recovering from flash floods in August that swept several villages, leaving more than 1,400 people dead and nearly 6,000 others missing.
In all, rescuers are searching for 12 missing Nepalese workers and guides after the avalanche at Himlung Himal base camp, while the bodies of two victims are being flown to Kathmandu as bad weather continues to hamper operations.
