Rescuers search for 14 missing after Himlung avalanche
A rescue team has reached the base camp, while two bodies recovered from the avalanche are being flown to Kathmandu.
A 14-member rescue team has been deployed to search for 14 Nepali high-altitude workers and guides who went missing after an avalanche on Himlung Himal in Manang district, officials said on Monday.
The search team, led by Mingma G Sherpa, operator of Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition and an international mountain guide, has been mobilised to search for the workers and guides who have been missing since Sunday.
The team flew from Kathmandu to the Himlung base camp by helicopter on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the bodies of two people who died in the avalanche are being flown from Chame Hospital to Kathmandu by helicopter. They will be taken to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.
Senior captain Pasang Norbu Sherpa of Prabhu Helicopter said Kailash Helicopter was flying the two bodies from Chame to Kathmandu on Monday morning. “We took the rescue team to the Himlung base camp this morning,” Sherpa said. He said the search and rescue operation began after the helicopter dropped the team at the base camp.
The team that left Kathmandu on Sunday had stayed overnight in Chame. Some members of the rescue team returned from the base camp on Sunday evening and spent the night in Phu village.
More than two dozen Nepali high-altitude workers and guides from Himalayan Holidays and Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition had travelled from Kathmandu to Himlung about two weeks ago to prepare for the climbing season. They had been working on the climbing route and preparing the base camp.
The search operation was launched after the workers and guides were reported missing on Sunday morning following the avalanche in the Himlung area. Guides experienced in working at high altitude were sent to search likely locations and assess the situation.
The 14-member team is now searching for the Himlung base camp. Weather and difficult mountain conditions are making the operation challenging.
Suraj Kunwar is a reporter with over two decades experience covering Aviation, Tourism and Mountaineering. He received the IFJ Tolerance Award in 2005.