AKIPRESS.COM - A snowstorm and avalanche in Nepal’s Himalayas has killed 17 trekkers and guides — nine foreigners and eight Nepalis — on a popular hiking route, while more than 100 others remain out of contact, officials said on Wednesday.
Severe weather triggered by the tail end of Cyclone Hudhud, which battered neighbouring India’s east coast, hit trekking groups on the Annapurna circuit as well as mountaineers trying to scale the avalanche-prone Mount Dhaulagiri in central Nepal on Tuesday.
As the weather cleared on Wednesday in the remote Mustang and Manang districts, rescuers trudging through waist-deep snow found 27 stranded trekkers, an official said. But some 168 foreign tourists were registered to hike in the districts and authorities are now trying to track the rest of them down, said police official Ganesh Rai who is heading the rescue effort.
Two Slovakian mountaineers and three Nepalese guides went missing after an avalanche struck teams stationed at the base camp of 8,167-metre Mount Dhaulagiri on Tuesday night.
“Two Slovakian climbers and three Nepalese guides are missing at Dhaulagiri base camp after an avalanche, they were here to scale the mountain,” local official Tulsiram Bhandari told AFP from Myagdi district.