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Frank Bienewald / Getty
Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks
Nine mountaineers are feared dead after the violent snowstorm destroyed their camp at the top of the Himalayas in western Nepal.
An expedition team of five South Korean members and four Nepali guides were at Mount Gurja base camp when the storm struck, police said on Saturday.
An on-site rescue helicopter confirmed that eight bodies were seen in the ruins of the camp but could not remain due to poor conditions.
A ninth mountaineer has not been found yet.
Local media reports that South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, the fastest man atop the world's 14 highest mountains without using additional oxygen, is among the dead.
"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.
The organizers of the expedition sounded the alarm after losing contact with the group, which left on October 7 for nearly 24 hours.
A police rescue team is currently walking to the site, while the helicopter team hopes to return to camp on Sunday if the weather improves.
The base camp, which is at least one day from the nearest village, is located at an altitude of 3,500 m, on a mountain 7,193 m above sea level.
Mount Gurja is found in the region of Annapurna, Nepal, next to the Dhaulagiri, the seventh highest mountain in the world, at risk of avalanches.
