Monday 24 September 2012

Climbers killed by avalanche at Nepal peak

Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) - At least 11 climbers were killed in an avalanche Sunday morning on Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest peak, a pilot who took part in the rescue effort said.

Steve Bruce Bokan of Fishtail Air said that those coordinating the rescue report as many as 38 people missing.

A French mountaineering official put the number lower at 15, but said it had been difficult to get exact figures from authorities in Nepal.

Four French citizens are among the dead, with another three missing, said Christian Trommsdorff, vice president of the National Syndicate of High Mountain Guides in Chamonix, France.

He said that rescuers in helicopters focused on evacuating the injured. They also found the bodies of the four Frenchmen.

One of the survivors -- according to the website for EpicTV, a film company that make features on skiing, climbing and other adventure sports -- is Glen Plake, who with two other ski mountaineers had planned to descend from the summit on skis without the aid of oxygen.

EpicTV said it spoke to Plake by satellite phone and the skier told them: "It was a major, major accident. There are up to 14 people missing. There were 25 tents at Camp 3 and all of them were destroyed; 12 tents at Camp 2 were banged up and moved around."

Two of his colleagues were missing, including the man with whom he shared a tent, Plake told EpicTV.

The avalanche, which took place Sunday at about 5 a.m. local time, was likely caused by a huge piece of ice that fell from a glacier above the camp, Trommsdorff said.

Most of the mountaineers had set up tents at 6,600 meters (21,650 feet), said Yograj Kadel of Simrik Air, which was also involved in the rescue. The other mountaineers were apparently 500 meters (1,640 feet) below the camp that was destroyed, according to the EpicTV report.


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