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It took rescuers two days to find the ragged bodies of nine mountaineers, including one of the world's best, who died after Nepal's worst alpine disaster in recent years, authorities said on Monday.
The local police chief, Bir Bahadur Budamagar, said that a group of villagers had gone to the climber camp in Gurja Himal on Saturday, a less popular but pristine mountain in the shadow of Dhaulagiri. , the seventh highest peak in the world and a day walk from the nearest village. .
Among climbers, Kim Chang-ho, the first South Korean to climb the 14 Himalayan peaks over 8,000 meters without using extra oxygen, led the expedition along with four other South Korean guides. four Nepalese guides.
Technically difficult and isolated, the mountain has not been climbed for eight years. Damage to the bodies of mountaineers, including broken limbs and shattered skulls, indicated that a violent wind carrying pieces of ice swept them from their camp site, Budamagar said. The bodies were found distributed within a radius of 1.5 kilometers.
"The debris, tents and other equipment have been scattered even further," said Budamagar.
Only 30 mountaineers have already reached the summit of Gurja Himal, 7193 meters, said the director of government tourism, Surendra Thapa, and Kim was not among them.
Nepal offers hundreds of mountains to climb and mountaineers usually choose those whose routes and conditions are well known.
Many mountaineers are discouraged from the mountain, at least in part, because of the legal requirement of having at least three Nepali qualified guides to receive a permit, said Thapa.
More adventurous mountaineers would be drawn to a mountain like Gurja, said Jiban Ghimire, who organizes expeditions for Shangrila Nepal Trek, based in Kathmandu.
"These people like to go to the low – congested mountains and there are no commercially organized expeditions by large groups, however, they are also far from getting any. help in case of problems, "said Ghimire.
The bodies of Kim and four other South Koreans killed will arrive in South Korea on Wednesday, said an official of Korea's Corean Alpine Club.
Rescuers found the bodies of mountaineers Sunday after clear weather. The body of one of the guides was transported to his village, while the remaining eight were flown to Kathmandu.
"It was the worst alpine disaster in Nepal in recent years and an unimaginable one," said Rameshwor Niraula of Nepal's Mountaineering Department, which issues climbing permits and oversees expeditions.
Niraula said the officials were still gathering the details of exactly what had happened, but according to what the rescuers described, the climbers were blown over by the wind blowing like a snowstorm. .
The news of the destruction was broadcast Saturday morning and helicopters were sent. They could not land because of bad weather but spotted the bodies.
Spring and autumn are the best climbing seasons in Nepal between the harsh winter and the summer monsoon.
A Korean member of the climbing team fell ill and was in a village well below the base camp during the storm.
The head of the Korean Alpine Club, who did not want to be identified because she was not allowed to speak to reporters, identified the other South Korean victims: Yu Yeong-jik, Im Il-jin, Jeong Jun-mo and Lee Jae. hoon.
Yu would have been responsible for the equipment of the team. Im was a filmmaker specializing in documentaries about mountaineers. The South Korean news agency Yonhap said that Jeong was not part of Kim's team but that he was visiting them when the accident occurred.
Nepal's rock climbing disaster has been the deadliest since 2015, when 19 people were killed at Mount Everest base camp by an avalanche caused by an earthquake that devastated the country. The previous year, an avalanche over base camp Everest killed 16 Nepalese Sherpa guides.
The Himalayan range includes the 14 world summits exceeding 8,000 meters in altitude, and only a few dozen mountaineers have ascertained verified and successful climbs. Kim achieved his feat in 2013.
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Schmall reported from New Delhi. Kim Tong-hyung, Associate Press Editor in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
