Avalanche at Himlung Himal base camp in Nepal leaves 10 missing

An avalanche struck the base camp of Himlung Himal in Nepal's Manang district on Sunday morning, leaving at least 10 expedition staff members unaccounted for. The Expedition Operators Association Nepal confirmed the incident.

Rishi Bhandari, general secretary of the association, told The Kathmandu Post that two of the missing are associated with Imagine Nepal Pvt Ltd and eight with Himalayan Holidays Nepal. Expedition organiser Mingma Gyalje Sherpa said two members of his kitchen staff were among those missing.

"The avalanche hit on Sunday morning," Sherpa said. He said expedition and rope-fixing teams had evacuated the mountain slopes after a weather warning was issued last week, although some people stayed behind despite the worsening conditions.

Ram Krishna Lamichhane, director general of Nepal's Department of Tourism, said the department was closely monitoring the situation. Officials were collecting details, and efforts to locate and rescue those unaccounted for were under way.

Himlung Himal stands at 7,126 metres in the Nar Phu area of Manang, close to the Tibet border. Reaching the mountain by helicopter requires an additional permit, which officials said made access more difficult.

The avalanche followed several days of heavy snowfall in the region, which had already forced climbers to retreat from the autumn ascent. The people reported missing are from different expedition companies, according to the organisers.

Nepal has been under a spell of severe weather since Friday. A weather system over the Bay of Bengal has brought heavy snowfall to the mountains and persistent rain to the hills and plains. Authorities have closed several road sections to traffic.

The Department of Tourism issued an advisory covering September 25 to 27, warning of heavy rain, thunderstorms, strong winds and snow at high elevations. It advised trekkers, mountaineers and support staff to suspend activities, and the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal asked agencies to avoid adventure activities during the period.

The Meteorological Forecasting Division said Madi Kalyanpur in Chitwan recorded 222.4 mm of rainfall in 24 hours, the highest in the country. Heavy to very heavy rain was recorded in parts of Madhesh, Gandaki, Lumbini, Bagmati and Sudurpaschim provinces, it said.

Expeditions on Manaslu and Dhaulagiri have been cancelled, suspended or forced to retreat as the weather worsened. At Dhaulagiri, climbers moved away from the base camp after forecasts warned of more adverse weather.

The disaster follows last month's floods in Rasuwa, which killed more than 1,400 people and left more than 5,000 missing. The floods washed away settlements along the Trishuli River and dealt a blow to Nepal's tourism sector.

It also comes weeks after an avalanche on Pakistan's Broad Peak killed 10 climbers on July 30, among them the British-Nepali guide Nirmal Purja. Their remains were brought back to Nepal in August.

Eight guides of the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations were preparing to leave for Himlung Himal to search for the missing. The Tourism Times reported the deployment on Sunday afternoon. Search and rescue details had not been released by Sunday morning.