KATHMANDU — Nepal has suspended search operations on the 7,126‑metre Himlung Himal after an avalanche that officials fear could be the country’s worst mountaineering disaster in more than a decade, with four bodies recovered and 12 people still missing.
The avalanche swept through the base camp in Manang district early on Sept 27, burying tents under several metres of snow and striking a team of Nepali workers who had gone ahead to prepare for upcoming foreign client expeditions. Rescue teams, including eight experienced mountain guides, dug through more than 4m of debris and snow, recovering two guides on Sept 27 and two kitchen staff on Sept 28, but worsening weather and deep ice layers have now forced a pause. “The conditions are very challenging… The search has been paused,” said Tul Singh Gurung, president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association.
Rescue leader Mingma G Sherpa said he had little hope of finding the missing alive, describing the avalanche as “massive” and saying operations could resume only when some snow melts. All 12 missing are Nepali workers, mostly kitchen and support staff, who were at the camp near the Chinese border ahead of the autumn climbing season on one of Nepal’s popular 7,000‑metre peaks.
The incident comes as Nepal continues to recover from catastrophic floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains and a glacial collapse in late August that killed more than 1,400 people and left thousands missing, with fresh rain since Sept 24 causing further floods and at least 21 additional deaths. Mountaineering and trekking tourism are vital to Nepal’s economy, and the country has seen major climbing tragedies before, including a 2014 Everest avalanche that killed 16 people and a 2015 earthquake that claimed 18 lives on the same mountain.