Avalanche at Nepal's Himlung Himal base camp, 10 climbers missing

Nepal, already reeling from a series of natural disasters, was hit by another grim event on Sunday morning. An avalanche suddenly struck the base camp of Himlung Himal, a peak near the Tibet border popular with mountaineers. At least 10 people were buried under the snow and are missing. Those missing are reported to be employees of various expedition companies and climbers. The incident has worsened the overall situation in Nepal, with an atmosphere of fear across the region.

Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, the expedition's chief organiser and a well-known Nepali mountaineer, confirmed the incident on social media. He said the 10 missing include two workers from his own expedition's camp kitchen. The disaster was caused by a sudden, severe snowstorm and large snow slides on Sunday morning. The avalanche struck so suddenly that people at the camp had no time to reach safety.

Nepal's meteorological department had warned last week of severe weather in the mountainous region. A weather system that formed over the Bay of Bengal was expected to bring heavy snowfall in the mountains and heavy rain in lower areas. After the warning, most climbing teams, local guides and rope-fixing teams had begun halting their expeditions and descending to safer ground as a precaution.

However, despite repeated warnings, some climbers and staff chose to remain at the base camp. Continuous snowfall over the past several days had already forced the cancellation of many autumn climbing expeditions in the area. Staying on at the camp in these serious conditions ultimately proved fatal when the avalanche struck on Sunday morning.

Himlung Himal, a 7,126-metre peak in Nepal's Manang district, is a major draw for adventure climbers from around the world. Many mountaineers choose it to gain high-altitude climbing experience before attempting peaks above 8,000 metres, though its terrain is difficult and challenging.

Rescue efforts at the site are currently proving difficult. Continuous snowfall and fog have reduced visibility to near zero, while the remote terrain makes it almost impossible to bring help by land. The biggest obstacle is that flying a helicopter in the area requires special permission from the Nepal administration, and delays in getting this permission, combined with bad weather, have grounded helicopter flights, bringing rescue efforts to a complete halt.

The monsoon and weather system from the Bay of Bengal is currently affecting the whole of Nepal. While snowfall continues in the mountains, heavy rain and landslides have caused havoc in lower and hilly areas since Friday. Several major highways, bridges and roads have been washed away by landslides, completely disrupting transport, and many villages and tourist sites have been cut off from the rest of the country.

Given the worsening situation, Nepal's tourism department and local administration have issued urgent directives. All trekkers, climbers and tourists across the country have been strongly advised to halt their activities immediately. The tourism department has issued an alert banning all adventure tourism activities for the coming days and has urged tourists to take shelter in safe locations.