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The nine members of a South Korean climbing expedition were confirmed dead on Saturday after a violent snowstorm devastated their camp on Mount Gurja in Nepal, one of the accidents the most deadly mountains that have struck the Himalayan nation in recent years.
The bodies of eight mountaineers – four South Koreans and four Nepali guides – were sighted from the debris of their camp by a rescue team early Saturday morning, but strong winds and icy conditions hampered research efforts.
A fifth South Korean mountaineer reportedly went missing, but officials confirmed that he was at the camp when the deadly storm struck and also died.
"A mountain expedition of five South Korean nationals and four foreigners was swept away by the strong winds at base camp during their ascent to Mount Gurja, they fell off a cliff and died," he said. the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement.
The helicopter pilot Siddartha Gurung was among the first people to reach the site after the deadly storm and described a scene of utter destruction with crushed tents and climber's bodies scattered throughout the area.
"Everything is gone, all the tents are destroyed," Gurung told AFP.
Gurung landed on a helicopter just above the camp of the expedition team, but the icy and unstable conditions prevented him from recovering the bodies.
The Nepal Tourism Department has announced that a second helicopter would be sent to the site on Saturday afternoon.
"A helicopter was sent for a second rescue attempt but we are not sure it can get closer to the scene of the incident," spokeswoman Mira Acharya said.
– The most deadly incident –
The storm is the deadliest incident that has hit the mountaineering industry in Nepal since 18 people were killed at Mount Everest base camp in 2015 in an avalanche caused by a mighty earthquake.
The previous year, 16 Sherpas had been killed on Everest when an avalanche had swept the Khumbu Icefall.
Wangchu Sherpa, general manager of Trekking Camp Nepal, who organized the expedition, said he rang the alarm after not hearing about the South Korean 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 camped since the beginning of October at the foot of Mount Gurja, 7 193 meters (23,599 feet), in the expectation of a period good weather allowing them to try 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.
The permit mentioned four South Korean mountaineers, but a fifth member had joined the team afterwards, according to Suresh Dakal of Trekking Camp Nepal.
In the Annapurnas, Nepal, Gurja is rarely climbed, next to the Dhaulagiri (7th highest peak 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.
The South Korean team intended to climb the mountain in a way never climbed, according to the Korean Alpine Federation.
Four climbers perished on the Gurja flanks and 30 in total reached their peak – a fraction of the 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.
Mount Gurja is next to the avalanche-prone Dhaulagiri Range
