Four more bodies recovered from Himlung Himal avalanche
Rescuers dig tunnels through 14ft of snow to reach workers buried inside their tents after the September 27 avalanche
PC: NNMGA
Four more bodies have been recovered from the site of an avalanche that struck the base camp of Himlung Himal in Nepal, taking the number recovered to 11, the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association said on Thursday.
Pasang Kaji Sherpa, an IFMGA mountain guide leading the recovery operation, told the Association that the four bodies were dug from tunnels several feet beneath the snow. Their identities have not yet been established.
Three bodies recovered on Wednesday were identified as Ash Gurung, Suraj Rai and Kalam Budha. Four others recovered earlier were identified as Chhebi Bhote, Pasang Bhote, Birendra Gurung and Ghan Shyam Rai.
Sixteen people — 14 kitchen workers and two climbing guides — were reported missing after the avalanche struck the Himlung Himal base camp, at about 4,900 metres, on September 27.
Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, known as Mingma G, initially led an eight-member team of IFMGA mountain guides affiliated with the Association. The team recovered four bodies before the search was suspended for a day because of bad weather.
At the request of relatives of the missing workers and Himalayan Holidays Trek and Expedition, the company employing most of them, a recovery team led by Pasang Kaji Sherpa resumed the operation on Wednesday. Sherpa and Bikram Karki, also an IFMGA guide, and local workers have recovered seven bodies in the past two days.
“The avalanche did not wash them down from the base camp. They are basically crushed under their tents,” said Abiral Rai, treasurer of the NNMGA. “So, it has become much easier to locate them.”
The team has been using a Recco detector to locate bodies beneath the snow. But the main task has been digging through the avalanche debris to reach the tents, Rai said.
“The snow is 14 feet deep,” he said.
The missing workers were staying in kitchen and dining tents belonging to two expedition companies, Himalayan Holidays and Imagine Nepal. Fourteen workers from Himalayan Holidays were buried, along with two kitchen workers from Imagine Nepal.
The rescuers have been digging tunnels through the snow to reach the buried tents, the NNMGA said.
The association said the search and recovery operation would continue, with the safety of rescuers the priority.
