Rescuers in Nepal have recovered 15 bodies from the base camp of Himlung, a 7,126-metre (23,345-foot) Himalayan peak near the Chinese border, after an avalanche struck early on Sunday. One worker is still missing, and the head of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, Tul Singh Gurung, said the chances of finding that person are slim and that the operation is likely to wind up soon.
The dead were mostly mountain guides, along with kitchen staff, who were pitching tents and fixing ropes ahead of the coming climbing season. Foreign climbers had not yet arrived at the site. Two guides' bodies were found on Sunday, two kitchen workers on Monday and three more on Tuesday. Eight more were pulled out on Thursday and are expected to be flown by helicopter to Kathmandu. A team of eleven rescuers, including experienced guides, dug through more than four metres (14 feet) of snow that had buried the tents. Early hopes of finding survivors faded as only bodies were recovered.
The avalanche followed severe weather across Nepal and India, linked by Dutch broadcaster NOS to a cyclone over the Bay of Bengal that brought days of heavy rain and snow. Rivers burst their banks and landslides struck. Reports put the death toll from the storms at 31 in Nepal and 80 in India, though Al Jazeera cites the national disaster agency as reporting at least 21 deaths in Nepal from floods and landslides since Thursday. Blocked roads and bridges, and routes closed as a precaution, have left some areas hard for emergency teams to reach.
The disaster is among the deadliest in Nepal's recent mountaineering history. In 2014 an avalanche killed 16 people on Everest, and in 2015 an earthquake killed 18 on the same mountain. Himlung is a popular objective for climbers seeking to tackle their first 7,000-metre peak.
The tragedy comes as Nepal is still struggling with the aftermath of a far larger catastrophe. On 26 August, a glacial and rock collapse on the Nepal-China border sent a wall of water and debris down Himalayan valleys. Nepal has recovered 1,454 bodies, and 5,285 people remain missing, including hundreds of foreigners. In China, state media report 43 dead and 519 missing. Forensic teams in Kathmandu are processing thousands of DNA samples, with help from several countries, and say matching could take weeks. Only 112 bodies have so far been identified and returned to families.
Why this matters: Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks, and its economy relies heavily on mountaineering and trekking. Around 600 climbing permits have been issued this season to climbers from almost 70 countries. The deaths highlight the risks borne by local guides and support staff, who often work ahead of foreign clients, and the strain on a country dealing with successive disasters as peak tourist season begins.