Bodies spotted at site where five climbers went missing last year

Nepali rescue workers have spotted five bodies at a site where the same number of climbers went missing last year, officials said on Saturday.

Three foreign climbers — an Italian Canadian, an Italian and a German — and two Nepali nationals have been missing since November last year after being struck by an avalanche on Yalung Ri mountain.

Two others, an Italian and a French climber, had died at the base camp of the mountain, which rises to 5,630 metres (18,470 feet) in Dolakha district, bordering the Tibet region of China.

Thabindra Kumar Kafle of the Gaurishankar Rural Municiplity where the mountain is located, said some workers assigned to look for the bodies by a hiking company spotted them on Friday.

“We are trying to reach the site where the bodies were seen but are stuck here due to bad weather,” said Phurba Tenjing Sherpa of the Dreamers' Destination hiking company, which had been guiding the foreign climbers.

Phurba was speaking from Bongar Khola, near the site, where a helicopter was waiting for the visibility to clear.

“The bodies may have come out after the snow melted,” he said.

It was not immediately clear if the bodies were those of the same climbers who went missing on Yalung Ri last year.

The mountain is in northeastern Nepal's Rolwaling Valley, where climbers have to contend with routes that include a mix of rock, ice and snow.

AFP

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