Avalanche Strikes Yalung Ri Base Camp
Seven climbers have died, four are missing and four were injured after an avalanche struck a Himalayan base camp in western Nepal on Monday morning, officials said. The slide hit at about 9 a.m. local time after a cyclone dumped heavy snow across the region.
Authorities said 15 people were caught in the avalanche at the Yalung Ri base camp, located at roughly 16,000 feet, according to Gyan Kumar Mahato, chief of police in Dolakha district. The team had been acclimating at Yalung Ri before attempting Dolma Khang, a 20,774-foot peak in the Rolwaling Valley.
Casualties and guides
Among the dead were three French nationals, one Canadian and one Italian climber. In addition to the foreign climbers, two local guides were also killed, bringing the confirmed death toll to seven. Of the 10 guides who accompanied the group, two were killed, four are missing and four were injured; the injured guides were able to return to base camp.
"The avalanche buried everyone on the slope," Deputy Superintendent of Police Gyan Kumar Mahato told The Kathmandu Post. "We got the information late, and the difficult weather delayed immediate response."
Rescue efforts hampered by weather
Search-and-rescue operations were severely constrained by poor weather. Officials said helicopters were grounded for much of the day and only reached the nearby Na village Monday evening. Rescue teams have been deployed on foot and were expected to reach the avalanche site the following morning.
One injured climber told The Kathmandu Post that those trapped shouted and cried for help but that promised helicopter assistance was delayed by several hours: "We were told that a helicopter would come after four hours, but by then several of our friends were gone. Had the rescue arrived on time, more lives could have been saved. Four of our friends are out of contact."
Possible causes and wider impact
Officials said heavy snowfall and rain from Cyclone Montha, followed by a rapid temperature change and high winds—reported up to 70 mph—may have created unstable snow layers and triggered the avalanche. "We suspect the high snowfall could have led to the disaster, but we have not reached a conclusion," said Himal Gautam, a spokesman for Nepal's Department of Tourism.
The storm left trekkers stranded across the Himalayas. Separate teams searched for two Italian climbers who went missing on Panbari mountain in western Nepal. Two British and one Irish trekker were rescued after being trapped for several days in the Mustang region.
Nepal's tourism department said it issued 1,450 climbing permits to climbers from 83 countries between September and the end of the month — the highest total in a decade. Eight of the world's 14 tallest peaks, including Mount Everest, are in Nepal.
Related incident
Separately, rescuers in northern Italy reported that five German mountaineers were killed by an avalanche in South Tyrol on Saturday.
