Rescuers call off search for climbers missing in Yalung Ri avalanche
Despite advanced equipment and expert teams, rescuers were unable to penetrate rock-hard snow at 5,400 meters.
PC: Pasang Kidar Sherpa/NNMGA
Rescuers have called off the search for five climbers buried in a massive avalanche on Yalung Ri peak on November 3 in the Rolwaling region.
A team of six rescue experts and high-altitude IFMGA guides had been searching the slopes of Yalung Ri for the past three days but were unable to recover any additional bodies.
“We searched for the missing climbers for the past three days but were unable to locate any of the buried bodies apart from those recovered on the first day of the operation,” said Pasang Kidar Sherpa, one of the rescuers from Na Village.
The missing as identified by the Department of Tourism, includes two Italians — Paolo Cocco and Marcus Kirchler — French national Manfredi Christian Andre, Canadian Marco Di Marcello, and German Jakob Schreiber.
On November 5, the rescue team had retrieved the bodies of Italian climber Paolo Cocco and French national Christian Andre Manfredi and —were airlifted to Kathmandu and taken to the Teaching Hospital for post-mortem
The four-member Nepali rescue team reached the avalanche site on November 5. Led by IFMGA/NNMGA guide Riten Jangbu Sherpa, the team included Pasang Kidar Sherpa, Chhiring Sonam Lama, and aspirant guide Pasang Temba Sherpa.
They were joined on November 6 by senior high-altitude rescue experts Bruno Joseph Jelk from Switzerland, Michele Cucchi from Italy, and Nepali IFMGA guide Chhiring Pande Bhote, all equipped with advanced search and rescue tools.
Sherpa said the snow had hardened to the point that digging further was nearly impossible. “The snow has hardened so much that we couldn’t even chip the surface with a pickaxe. So, we decided to call off the search from today,” Pasang told Everest Chronicle.
Rescuers dug at least 50 locations, some as deep as five meters where RECCO signals were detected, but their efforts were in vain.
On Friday, the team also deployed the RECCO SAR Helicopter Detector to locate the bodies. “The helicopter hovered over the avalanche site for well over four hours, but it could not locate any bodies,” he added.
According to Sherpa, the team found some equipment — including crampons and clothing — but no trace of the climbers.
The rescue team had been working at an altitude above 5,400 meters.
“We exhausted all available options for now, but we might try again around June or July when the snow softens,” Pasang said.
The avalanche struck on the morning of November 3 as the climbers were ascending a steep ice slope near the summit of Yalung Ri in the Dolakha Rolwaling region. Four climbers have been confirmed dead, while three others remain missing.
