Nepal rescuers find bodies of five climbers killed in 2025
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The five have been missing since November 2025 after being struck by an avalanche on Yalung Ri peak, near Nepal’s border with Tibet.
PHOTO: THE KATHMANDU POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
- Rescuers in Nepal found bodies of five climbers, including three foreigners, killed by a 2025 avalanche near the Chinese border on Yalung Ri peak.
- The missing climbers included an Italian-Canadian, a German and an Italian, discovered after heavy snow had concealed their bodies since last November.
- Rescue efforts continue amid bad weather, with Nepal having a high number of climbing deaths, especially from avalanches, according to the Himalayan Database.
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KATHMANDU – Rescuers in Nepal have found the bodies of five mountaineers, including three foreigners, killed in an avalanche in 2025 near the Chinese border, a local government official said on Aug 8.
“Five bodies, three foreigners and two Nepalis, who had been missing since last November, have been discovered,” said Biswash Karki, chairman of Gaurishankar Rural Municipality.
The foreigners were an Italian-Canadian, a German and an Italian, he told AFP news agency.
The avalanche hit the climbers on the lower flanks of the 5,630m Yalung Ri peak, near Nepal’s border with Tibet.
Locals and rescuers discovered the bodies on Aug 6, Karki said, adding that the local authority was working to recover them.
“Ever since they went missing, we had been deploying the army, police and local rescue teams to search for them, but thick snow had covered their bodies,” the official said.
Senior local police officer Manoj Kumar Lama said a rescue helicopter was sent to the area on Aug 7, but, “due to bad weather, our team has not been able to reach the spot”.
“Our rescue team will airlift the bodies once the weather clears,” he told AFP.
Home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest, Nepal welcomes hundreds of climbers and trekkers every year.
According to the Himalayan Database, an expedition archive, more than 1,000 people have died on peaks since 1950, with avalanches killing almost a third of them. AFP
