Nov. 3 (UPI) — Seven climbers are dead, four are missing and four injured after an avalanche struck a Himalayan base camp in western Nepal on Monday morning, officials said.
A cyclone had produced heavy snowfall in the mountainous region.
The incident occurred at 9 a.m. local time, the BBC reported.
Fifteen people were caught in the avalanche at the base camp of Yalung Ri peak at 16,000 feet, Gyan Kumar Mahato, the chief of police in Dolakha district, said in a report by The New York Times.
The climbers were adjusting to the altitude at Yalung Ri base camp before plans to hike nearby Dolma Khang peak, which is 20,774 feet in the Rolwaling Valley section of the Himalayas mountains.
Among those killed were three citizens from France, one from Canada and one from Italy. Of the 10 guides, two were killed, four were missing and four were injured.
The injured guides returned to the 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.”
Searchers on Monday were hampered by poor weather conditions.
“Although there were several rescue attempts throughout the day, the operations could not proceed because helicopters were unable to reach the site,” Mahato said. “A helicopter finally reached Na village on Monday evening, and we have also deployed rescue teams on foot.”
He added that the rescue operation would resume Tuesday morning.
Rescuers traveling on foot were expected to reach the area Tuesday morning.
“We shouted and cried for help, but no one could reach us,” one of the injured climbers told The Kathmandu Post. “We were told that a helicopter would come after 4 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.”
After heavy snowfall and rain from Cyclone Montha last week, the area had nice weather Sunday. Wind speeds had reached 70 mph.
Officials say the fluctuation in temperature could have created 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.
Trekkers were stranded across the Himalayas.
In western Nepal, rescuers were looking for two Italian climbers who went missing while attempting to scale the Panbari mountain.
Also, two British and one Irish woman were among a group rescued after being trapped for several days in the western Mustang region.
Nepal’s tourism department granted climbing permits to 1,450 climbers from 83 countries, the most in a decade, from September through the end of this month.
Eight of the world’s 14 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, are in Nepal.
In northern Italy, five German mountaineers died after being hit by an avalanche in South Tyrol on Saturday, rescuers said.
