17 dead and nearly 150 missing as avalanche hits Annapurna trekking circuit in Nepal

[Muslera]

Seventeen dead and nearly 150 missing as avalanche hits Annapurna trekking circuit in Nepal

Almost 150 still missing as severe weather hits the popular Annapurna circuit in the Himalayas

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 15 October, 2014, 4:26pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 16 October, 2014, 3:13am

Agence France-Presse in Kathmandu

Seventeen dead and nearly 150 missing as avalanche hits Annapurna trekking circuit in Nepal

A snowstorm and avalanche in Nepal's Himalayas has killed at least 17 hikers and guides, while almost 150 others are missing in one of the worst disasters in the region in the last 10 years.

Severe weather triggered by the tail end of Cyclone Hudhud, which battered neighbouring India's east coast, hit the groups of trekkers on the Annapurna circuit in central Nepal on Tuesday.

At least nine foreign hikers and eight local guides are known have died, along with a group of yak hurders.

Thousands of trekkers visit the Annapurna region every October, when weather conditions are usually favourable for hiking trips.

However, the region has experienced unusually heavy snowfall this week as a result of the cyclone which killed 22 people and caused widespread devastation in India.

As the weather cleared yesterday in the remote Mustang and Manang districts, rescuers, trudging through waist-deep snow, found 17 stranded trekkers, but another 143 foreign tourists remain out of contact.

Four bodies - of two Poles, one Israeli and a local trekker - were discovered buried in the snow in Mustang, said police official Ganesh Rai, who headed the rescue effort.

"There has been heavy snowfall in the area, up to three feet [90 cm]," Rai said.

Rescuers, aided by a Nepal army helicopter and several others hired by trekking agencies, also found the bodies of five hikers caught in an avalanche in neighbouring Manang.

"A chopper search has located the bodies of five people, including four Canadians and an Indian, killed in an avalanche," Rai said. In a separate incident in Manang, three yak herders were killed in another avalanche on Tuesday while grazing their animals, district official Devendra Lamichanne said.

A local official said he hoped that those trekkers still missing in the region had simply been cut off by the blizzard.

"The phone network is not very good so we have not been able to get in touch with the missing, but we hope to find them," said Mustang district official Baburam Bhandari.

Rescuers are also searching for a 67-year-old Frenchman who fell into the Budhi Gandaki river on Tuesday while following the Manaslu trekking route, police said. The cyclone sparked heavy downpours in the hilly Gorkha region, where the French trekker slipped and fell.

The hiker was part of a team of 10 tourists heading up the scenic Manaslu route, named after Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth highest peak. It has been developed as an alternative to the crowded Annapurna circuit.

In April the deadliest avalanche to hit Mount Everest killed 16 people and forced an unprecedented shutdown of the world's highest peak. The closure for the season dealt a huge blow to the impoverished nation, which relies on tourism revenues.