WorldPosted at: Sep 27 2026 6:05PM


Six missing after avalanche hits Himlung Himal base camp in Nepal

Kathmandu, Sep 27 (UNI) At least six Nepali support staff are missing after an avalanche struck the base camp of Himlung Himal in central Nepal, where climbers and expedition staff were preparing for a mountaineering expedition, organisers said on Sunday.
Sherpas and kitchen staff were fixing ropes and setting up tents at the 7,126-metre mountain for an expedition team from the United Arab Emirates scheduled to arrive on October 1 when a torrent of snow and rock swept down the mountainside.
Barun Bhandari, general manager of Himalayan Holidays, the company organising the expedition, said at least six Nepalis who were at the base camp were missing, CNN reported.
“We heard this morning that six or seven of our crew is missing but we are yet to confirm the exact number,” CNN quoted Bhandari as saying.
“We are very devastated,” he said, adding that it was the first time an avalanche of such magnitude had struck the particular area.
Renowned climber Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, who runs another expedition company operating on the mountain, said that two of his kitchen staff were among those missing.
Bhandari said the company was working with Nepal's tourism authorities to confirm the exact number of missing people and was making arrangements to send a rescue helicopter to the base camp.
However, heavy rainfall and limited communication in the remote mountainous region were hampering rescue efforts.
The team, comprising Sherpas, kitchen staff and other crew members, had safely reached the base camp on September 18 carrying food and climbing equipment, Bhandari said.
“They have been there setting up tents, fixing ropes for the climb, monitoring the conditions on the mountain and setting up the kitchen,” he said.
The avalanche struck amid severe weather warnings in parts of Nepal. The National Trust for Nature Conservation had recently suspended entry permits to the Annapurna and Manaslu conservation areas from September 24 to 26 due to heavy rainfall.
Himlung Himal lies in the Himalayan region near the China border.
The incident comes weeks after a devastating flooding disaster near the Nepal-China border, triggered by a major glacier collapse and landslide, which reportedly killed at least 1,300 people and left more than 5,000 missing. UNI XC AAB SAS
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