Avalanche at Himalayan base camp kills four, dozen missing

An avalanche swept through the base camp of Himlung Himal, a 7,126-metre peak in Nepal's Manang district, early on Sunday morning, burying tents under deep snow near the border with Tibet. Tul Singh Gurung, president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, reported that two bodies were initially discovered, with rescuers continuing efforts until 6pm before resuming the search the following day.

By Monday, the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association confirmed that four bodies had been recovered in total, while twelve cook staff remained missing. The organisation described the avalanche as exceptionally large, with approximately 14 feet of snow covering the base camp area. Mountaineer Mingma G Sherpa, who led the rescue team, explained that challenging weather had significantly hampered rescue efforts. He noted on Facebook that lives could have been saved if rescuers had not been delayed by poor conditions until the evening. Bibhuti Chand Thakur from Himalaya Holidays Trekking reported that at least eight members of his expedition team had been reported missing.

The missing individuals were largely support staff — climbers and kitchen workers sent ahead of foreign expeditions to prepare camp and fix ropes. This tragedy follows a devastating glacial flood in Nepal on 26 August that killed more than 1,400 people, as well as separate flooding and landslide events that claimed at least 21 lives during the same period, highlighting the extreme weather challenges facing the Himalayan nation in recent weeks.