KATHMANDU – Nine months after a fatal avalanche in the Himalayas, five bodies have been found, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
Nepalese authorities have not ruled out the possibility that these are the bodies of five mountaineers, including a German national, who have been missing since then. However, the bodies have reportedly not yet been recovered or identified.
The accident occurred on Yalung Ri, a mountain 5,630 metres high.
Biswash Karki, head of the local council in Gaurishankar, on the border with Tibet, told dpa that he assumed the dead were the missing mountaineers.
The bodies were reportedly found on Thursday below the summit. However, due to poor weather conditions, a helicopter sent to recover the bodies was forced to turn back on Friday. A rescue team remains on standby.
The five missing people were part of a group of 15 mountaineers who were caught in an avalanche last November while attempting to climb the summit of Yalung Ri.
The bodies of two Nepalese mountain guides were recovered at the time, and eight other members of the group were rescued.
In addition to the German, two Italians and one climber each from France and Canada were also reported missing. — BERNAMA-dpa
