Two climbing guides were found dead and 14 kitchen workers remained missing after an avalanche struck Himlung Himal Base Camp in Manang on Sunday, a Nepali mountain guides association reported.
The Nepal National Mountain Guide Association said the 16 people initially reported missing included workers from several expedition companies.
Early reports placed the number of missing people at 10. The association later increased the total to 16 before announcing that rescuers had recovered the bodies of both guides.
The search for the 14 kitchen staff members was continuing, according to the association.
A four-member NNMGA and International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations rescue team traveled to the accident area aboard a Prabhu Helicopter. The association said the team had reached the site and begun searching.
Mountain guide Mingma G. led the team, which also included Pasang Kaji Sherpa, Ashish Gurung and Tsering Pemba Sherpa.
Four additional rescuers were waiting at the airport and could be deployed if needed, the association reported.
In another update, the NNMGA said its rescue team had reached Phu village and would begin operations the following morning. The supplied updates did not make clear whether that statement preceded the team’s reported arrival at the accident site or referred to another phase of the operation.
The Himalayan Times reported that eight rescuers had earlier been placed on standby at Tribhuvan International Airport.
That team included Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, Pasang Kaji Sherpa, Pasang Rinzee Sherpa, Ashish Gurung, Tsering Pemba Sherpa, Bikram Karki, Dandu Sherpa and NNMGA General Secretary Pimba Tenjing Lama.
The newspaper also reported that three members of the joint IFMGA-NNMGA team were at the base camp while five additional guides prepared to travel to the mountain by helicopter. The rescue team had requested further assistance.
Communications in the area remained unreliable, complicating efforts to determine who was safe and who was missing.
Bibhu Chand Thakur, president of Himalayan Holidays Nepal, said his company had 22 people stationed at the base camp. Only nine had been contacted since the avalanche, he said.
Continuous rainfall and heavy snowfall have affected Nepal’s high mountain regions. The severe weather has forced expedition teams on several peaks to suspend operations and move to safer locations.
The NNMGA offered condolences to the families and loved ones of the two guides as the search for the remaining workers continued.
