Rescue Teams Intensify Search for 12 Missing After Avalanche on Mount Himlung

Rescue teams combed Mount Himlung on Monday for a dozen people swept away by an avalanche that claimed at least two lives during severe weather in north-central Nepal.

Ten climbers were rescued from the 7,126-meter peak after the Sunday avalanche, while two others perished. All those missing or killed were Nepali nationals.

The disaster struck as the climbers waited at base camp anticipating the arrival of foreign clients, at the start of the autumn climbing season this month.

Helicopters evacuated the 10 rescued individuals, while the remains of the two killed were airlifted to Kathmandu airport and taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, where family members gathered at the morgue but declined to comment.

Over the weekend, flooding and landslides were reported in Manang district, the area where the mountain stands, all triggered by heavy rainfall, according to the district administration.

The avalanche occurs as the government issued nationwide severe weather warnings across the Himalayan nation.

Nepal’s disaster management agency reported 21 additional deaths and five people missing in other regions between Thursday and Sunday.

This incident follows devastating August flooding that swept through several villages, resulting in over 1,400 fatalities and nearly 6,000 people reported missing.

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