Nepal searches for avalanche victims near border with China

KATHMANDU - Nepali rescuers on Nov 6 searched for the bodies of

multiple climbers killed in an avalanche this week

, while Italy said five citizens reported missing in a separate incident were safe.

Seven people were killed on Nov 3 when an avalanche hit multiple expedition teams at the base camp of 5,630m Yalung Ri peak near Nepal’s border with China.

“Mountain guides, skilled in search, have been deployed,” Seven Summit Treks’ Mingma Sherpa told AFP.

Crews are digging through snow, and scanning the white landscape with electronic detectors.

Mr Sherpa said that they were

searching for five bodies

– two Italians, two Nepalis and one German. The bodies of an Italian and a French citizen had already been recovered.

Survivors recounted to AFP how slabs of ice smashed into the group as they clung on the mountain, burying some under the snow.

In a separate incident last week, two Italian climbers died while attempting to scale the 6,887m Panbari mountain.

Italy’s foreign ministry had also reported several missing citizens trekking in Nepal, but said on Thursday they had “managed to communicate with the group of five hikers... with whom there had been no contact for several days”.

It said the five were safe and well.

Home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest, Nepal welcomes hundreds of climbers and trekkers every year.

In October, Cyclone Montha triggered heavy rain and snowfall across Nepal, leaving trekkers and tourists stranded on popular Himalayan routes.

According to the Himalayan Database, an expedition archive, at least 1,093 people have died on peaks since 1950, with avalanches killing almost a third of them. AFP