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At least eight mountaineers from a South Korean expedition died on Mount Gurja after their camp was devastated by a violent snowstorm, officials said Saturday.
The bodies of eight mountaineers – four South Koreans and four Nepali guides – were spotted in the debris of their camp by a rescue team early Saturday morning, but unstable and icy conditions hindered the search.
"We presume that the incident occurred because of a snowstorm, because of broken trees and tents.Even the corpses are scattered," AFP told AFP. , spokesman for the police, Sailesh Thapa.
Thapa said that a ninth mountaineer could also be missing.
A helicopter reached the site and managed to land just above the camp of the expedition team, but could not recover any of the bodies.
"Everything is gone, all the tents are destroyed.The conditions were too cold to continue the search," said pilot Siddartha Gurung to AFP.
Gurung said a relief team would return to camp on Sunday if conditions improved.
Wangchu Sherpa, general manager of Trekking Camp Nepal, who organized the expedition, said he rang the alarm after not hearing about the team for nearly 24 hours.
"After the mountaineers had been out of touch since yesterday, we sent people from the village and a helicopter to look for them," he said.
The group of South Korean climbers and their Nepali guides had been camping at the foot of Mount Gurja for 193 meters since the beginning of October, while waiting for a window of good weather allowing them to attempt to reach the summit.
South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, who in 2013 became the fastest person at the top of the 14 highest mountains in the world without using extra oxygen, was at the head of the expedition, according to a permit. escalation issued by the government, seen by AFP.
Kim would be among the dead, officials said.
The climbing permit indicated four South Korean mountaineers, but a fifth member had joined the team afterwards, according to Suresh Dakal of the Trekking Camp Nepal.
Dakal said they were still struggling to confirm whether the fifth South Korean had reached base camp when the powerful storm hit Friday on the region.
In the Annapurnas, Nepal, Gurja is rarely climbed, next to the Dhaulagiri (the seventh highest mountain in the world), subject to avalanches.
According to the Himalayan database, Gurja was first elected in 1969 by a Japanese team, but no one has been at its peak for 22 years.
Four climbers perished on its flanks and a total of 30 climbed to their peak – a fraction of the more than 8,000 people who climbed Everest, the highest mountain in the world.
Thousands of mountaineers flock to Nepal every year – home to eight of the 14 highest peaks in the world – creating a lucrative mountain tourism industry that provides a vital source of income for the impoverished country.
