Avalanche at Yalung Ri Base Camp Kills at Least Seven; Five Bodies Recovered as Rescue Efforts Continue

Avalanche at Yalung Ri Base Camp Kills at Least Seven; Rescue Teams Continue Search

Nepalese rescuers recovered five bodies on Tuesday after an avalanche struck the Yalung Ri base camp on Monday morning, leaving at least seven people dead and several others missing, officials said. The slide occurred at about 9 a.m. local time following heavy snowfall produced by Cyclone Montha.

At least five climbers were injured and have been airlifted to Kathmandu for medical treatment. The injured include Sun Bahadur Gurung, Nima Gyalzan Sherpa and Lakpa Tamang of Nepal, and Isabelle Solange Thaon and Didier Arman Berton of France.

A four-member search-and-rescue team from the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA) arrived Wednesday to assist local teams searching for missing climbers and recovering additional bodies. IFMGA officials said the team is equipped with advanced rescue tools, including a RECCO detector, which transmits signals to locate passive reflectors carried by climbers.

The newly dispatched IFMGA team supplemented a 50-member joint operation already in the field, composed of personnel from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force. Rescuers say difficult weather and high winds hampered initial helicopter access and delayed ground teams.

Victims and Missing Climbers

Local rescuers identified two of the bodies recovered on Tuesday as Paolo Cocco (Italy) and Christian Andre Manfredi (France); their remains were airlifted to Kathmandu for further examination. The Italian Consulate in Kolkata confirmed that the bodies of Italians Alessandro Caputo and Stefano Farronato also have been recovered. Several other climbers have been declared dead though their remains have not yet been recovered: Marco Di Marcello and Markus Kirchler (Italy), Jakob Schreiber (Germany), and Nepali guides Mere Karki and Padam Tamang.

Officials said the avalanche swept up about 15 people at the Yalung Ri base camp, located near 16,000 feet elevation. The group had been acclimating at base camp before plans to attempt nearby Dolma Khang (about 20,774 feet) in the Rolwaling Valley.

Among those reported killed were citizens from France, Canada and Italy. Of the roughly 10 guides present at the camp, two were killed, four were missing and four were injured; the injured guides later returned to base camp.

"The avalanche buried everyone on the slope. We got the information late, and the difficult weather delayed immediate response," Deputy Superintendent of Police Gyan Kumar Mahato told The Kathmandu Post.

Rescuers said helicopters could not reach the site on Monday because of poor weather and high winds, and that foot teams were expected to reach the area on Tuesday. An injured climber told The Kathmandu Post that calls for help went unanswered for hours and that delays in rescue response likely cost lives.

Officials said heavy snowfall from Cyclone Montha followed by rapid temperature fluctuations and high winds — reported at up to 70 mph — may have created unstable avalanche conditions. "We suspect the high snowfall could have led to the disaster, but we have not reached a conclusion," Himal Gautam, a spokesman for Nepal's Department of Tourism, said.

Nepal's tourism department issued climbing permits to 1,450 climbers from 83 countries between September and the end of this month — the highest number in a decade. Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 tallest peaks, including Mount Everest.