Nepal Himlung avalanche toll rises to four, 12 still missing
Two more bodies were recovered on Monday from the site of an avalanche at Nepal's Himlung Himal peak, taking the number of bodies found to four, officials said. Twelve people were still missing as search and rescue teams continued operations in the area.
The avalanche hit the base camp of the 7,126-metre Himlung Himal peak in the Nar Phu area of Manang district on Sunday. It buried a tent where climbers and support staff were taking shelter, leaving several workers and guides missing.
The bodies recovered on Monday were identified as Birendra Gurung and Ghan Shyam Rai, the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association (NNMGA) said in a social media post. The bodies of Chhebi Bhote and Pasang Bhote were recovered on Sunday, the association said, adding that its search and rescue team was continuing operations in the avalanche-hit area.
NNMGA President Tul Singh Gurung said the team planned to continue the search on Monday if weather and mountain conditions remained favourable, The Kathmandu Post reported. "Four bodies have been recovered and identified. Twelve people are still missing, and the search for them is continuing," Gurung was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
According to the report, the search team led by Mingma G Sherpa of Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition was flown by helicopter from Chame to the Himlung base camp on Monday morning to join the rescue operation. The bodies recovered on Sunday were flown from Chame Hospital to Kathmandu and taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.
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. The avalanche struck on Sunday amid continuous rain and snowfall in Nepal's mountain districts, which have also triggered landslides and floods. The deaths come as Nepal is still recovering from flash floods in August that swept through several villages, leaving more than 1,400 people dead and nearly 6,000 others missing.
