Rescuers from Nepal looked for the bodies of several climbers who perished in an avalanche this week on Thursday. Meanwhile, Italy announced that five people who had been reported missing in a different incident were safe.
At the base camp of the 5,630-meter (18,471-foot) Yalung Ri peak, which is close to Nepal’s border with China, an avalanche struck several expedition teams on Monday, killing seven people.
“Mountain guides, skilled in search, have been deployed,” Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks told AFP.
While digging into the snow, crews are using electrical detectors to scan the snowy terrain.
According to Sherpa, they were looking for five bodies: one German, two Italians, and two Nepalis. An Italian and a French citizen’s bodies have previously been found.
As the group clung to the mountain, chunks of ice crashed into them, burying several of them under the snow, survivors said AFP.
Two Italian climbers perished in a different event last week while trying to ascend the 6,887-meter Panbari peak.
On Thursday, Italy’s foreign ministry announced that they had “managed to communicate with the group of five hikers… with whom there had been no contact for several days.” The ministry had previously reported a number of missing citizens who were trekking in Nepal.
The five were said to be fine and safe.
Every year, hundreds of climbers and hikers visit Nepal, which is home to eight of the ten highest peaks in the world, including Mount Everest.
Cyclone Montha caused severe rain and snowfall over Nepal last month, stranding tourists and hikers on well-traveled Himalayan routes.
Avalanches have killed over a third of the at least 1,093 people who have perished on peaks since 1950, according to the Himalayan Database, an expedition database.
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