Mount Manaslu avalanche kills at least 9 climbers in Nepal

At least nine are feared dead and six more are missing in Nepal after an swept away Europeans and others on Himalayan peak Manaslu.

Officials confirmed two bodies had been recovered while a further seven were spotted on the slopes of Mount Manaslu in the north of the country.

The avalanche struck a base camp near the summit on Saturday, police said.

The two bodies recovered are said to be of a German and a .

At least nine climbers are feared dead and six more are missing in Nepal after an avalanche swept away Europeans and others on Himalayan peak Manaslu 350x218 photo

At least nine climbers are feared dead and six more are missing in Nepal after an avalanche swept away Europeans and others on Himalayan peak Manaslu

Police official Basanta Bahadur Kuwar was quoted as saying by the Associated Press that 10 people had survived the avalanche but many among them were injured.

They were being flown to hospitals by rescue helicopters, he added.

Officials are trying to determine exactly how many people were in the climbing party.

Deteriorating weather conditions meant it was impossible to continue air searches of the mountain on Sunday, Basanta Bahadur Kuwar said.

The climbers were caught at 7,000 m (22,960 ft) as they were preparing to head toward the summit, which is 8,156 m high.

“The avalanche hit camp three of the Manaslu peak… resulting in a flood of snow,” said Laxmi Dhakal, head of the Nepalese home ministry’s disaster response division.

Hundreds of foreign climbers head every year for the , which has eight of the world’s 14 , including Mount Everest.

Manaslu, the eighth , is considered one of the most dangerous, with dozens of deaths in recent years.

The autumn climbing season began this month.

 

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Posted by on Sep 23 2012. Filed under Asia News, Breaking News, Front Page. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.

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