Snowstorm kills nine climbers on Nepal peak

KATHMANDU: Nine members of a South Korean climbing expedition were killed after a violent snowstorm swept them off a cliff on Nepal’s Mount Gurja, one of the deadliest mountaineering accidents to hit the Himalayan nation in recent years.

The bodies of eight climbers -- four South Koreans and four Nepali guides -- were spotted near the wreckage of their camp by a rescue team on Saturday morning, but strong winds were hampering the search effort.

A fifth South Korean climber was initially reported missing, but officials later confirmed he was at the camp when the deadly storm hit on Friday and also perished.

"A mountain expedition of five South Korean nationals and four foreigners were swept off by strong winds at the base camp during their climb to Mount Gurja. They fell off a cliff and died," the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement. Helicopter pilot Siddartha Gurung was among the first people to reach the site after the deadly storm and described a scene of total destruction.

He said all the tents had been flattened, reduced to a tangled mess of tarpaulin and broken polls, and the climbers’ bodies were scattered across a wide area, including some in a river bed some 500 metres away from the main camp.

"Everything is gone, all the tents are blown apart," Gurung told AFP.

Gurung landed a helicopter just above the expedition team’s camp and attempted to descend to the campsite with a group of local villagers, but icy and unstable conditions meant they were unable to retrieve any of the bodies.

Rescue officials tried to send a second helicopter to the site but it was unable to fly due to strong winds, police spokesman Sailesh Thapa told AFP. Another attempt will be made Sunday, he added.

The storm is the deadliest incident to hit Nepal’s mountaineering industry since 18 people were killed at Mount Everest’s base camp in 2015 in an avalanche triggered by a powerful earthquake.

The previous year, 16 Sherpas were killed on Everest when an avalanche swept through the Khumbu Icefall during the busy Spring climbing season.