Avalanche hits Himalayan expedition, 10 climbers reported missing

At least 10 Nepalese climbers have been reported missing after an avalanche struck a shelter in the Himalayas, in an area where they were preparing for a mountain expedition.

According to Nepalese authorities, the climbers, all Nepalese guides, were at a staging point near the summit of Himlung Himal in Manang district when the avalanche struck on Sunday morning.

The team had been sent ahead of the foreign climbers’ arrival to prepare the shelter, manage the route and install ropes along the mountain. BBC

Himlung Himal reaches an elevation of 7,126 meters and is located near Nepal’s border with Tibet. Weather forecasts had warned of heavy snowfall in the summit area in recent days.

Adverse weather conditions have hampered search-and-rescue operations. Helicopters and rescue teams have been unable to reach the site of the avalanche because of the severe weather.

Meanwhile, climbers have been forced to abandon Mount Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world, because of the growing avalanche risk.

The incident comes around two months after an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan, where six people died, including the well-known British-Nepalese climber Nirmal Purja.

Extreme weather conditions have also caused deaths farther south, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where more than 50 people have died, according to local authorities.