Frantic search for 100 missing trekkers after deadly Nepal avalanche

[Windsorlou]

Frantic search for 100 missing trekkers after deadly Nepal avalanche

Blizzard in Nepal spurred by Cyclone Hudhud has killed at least 30 hikers on Annapurna circuit

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 16 October, 2014, 3:36pm
UPDATED : Friday, 17 October, 2014, 2:48am

Agence France-Presse in Kathmandu

Nepalese army rescuers carry the body of a trekker from the Thorong La mountain pass. Avalanches and severe weather claimed at least 30 lives, with more missing. Photo: EPA

Workers using helicopters and battling waist-deep snow rescued more than 150 people, including two Hongkongers, in Nepal's Himalayas yesterday, two days after a major snowstorm that triggered avalanches and killed more than 30 people.

Local officials said 23 bodies had been found on the popular Annapurna circuit trekking route, while five climbers who were staying at a mountain base camp when it was hit by an avalanche could not be found and were presumed dead.

Three Nepalese yak herders were also killed when severe weather triggered by the tail end of Cyclone Hudhud hit the picturesque Annapurna region in central Nepal.

But the majority of victims were tourists - among them Canadians, Israelis and Indians - and their guides and porters. Doctors said the two Hongkongers, identified as Rita Chan-yuet and Wong Kai-man, were diagnosed with frostbite by doctors at a Nepalese army hospital, and their condition was not serious.

"We have made a lot of progress today: we have airlifted 154 people to safety, including 76 foreigners," said Ganesh Rai, the police official in charge of the rescue effort.

Names on a list showing patients who were rescued from the recent avalanches and undergoing treatment at the Army hospital in Kathmandu. Photo: Reuters

As dusk fell, strong winds picked up in the affected districts of Manang and Mustang, making it too risky for pilots to continue scanning the snow-blanketed slopes for signs of victims.

Israelis Yakov Megreli and Maya Ora were 10 days into their trek when the storm hit, forcing them to stop overnight at a freezing teashop.

"We tried not to sleep so that we wouldn't get hypothermia. It was very frightening, awful," Megreli, 24, said.

"All the time I thought I was going to die," said Ora, 21, before Nepalese troops found the pair and brought them to a military hospital in Kathmandu to be treated for frostbite.

The Thorong-La pass, where rescue efforts are focused. Photo: Xinhua

A US hiker said he sought refuge at a Manang guesthouse, along with 21 tourists and four Nepalese guides and porters, after finding himself in the grip of the snowstorm.

The hiker said he would never have headed out if he had been given prior warnings.

Keshav Pandey, vice president of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal, an industry body, said the Himalayan nation has no warning systems in place to inform trekkers of severe weather conditions.