Hopes fade for 40 trekkers still missing after Nepal blizzards

Hopes faded yesterday for survivors of one of Nepal’s worst mountain disasters as villagers joined an intensive search by troops and government officials for as many as 40 people missing after an unseasonal blizzard killed 39. More than 500 people have been rescued from a route popular with foreign adventure tourists that circles Annapurna, the world’s 10th-tallest peak. The survivors include 230 foreigners.

Rescuers turned to villagers familiar with the rugged, snow-clad terrain to help look for stranded hikers. The snow and avalanches were triggered by the tail-end of a cyclone, which hit neighbouring India last weekend.

“We are not clear where the missing people are and whether they are safe or not safe,” said Yadav Koirala, the chief of Nepal’s disaster management authority. “We can only hope and pray that they are not dead.”

Since Wednesday, rescue teams have recovered 30 bodies and identified nine more from the air. “The snow is very thick and the rescue teams are finding it difficult to pull the nine bodies out,” said KP Sharma, an administrator in Dolpa, a district of glaciers and ravines.

Army helicopters searched for survivors on parts of the trail at an altitude of more than 5,000m (16,400ft). Soldiers fanned out through some of the most treacherous terrain, where helicopters cannot land.

The dead include Canadian, Indian, Israeli, Japanese, Nepalese, Polish and Slovak trekkers. Survivors said many victims perished trying to descend from the trail’s highest pass in freezing, white-out conditions.

The incident was Nepal’s second major mountain disaster this year. Sixteen guides died in an avalanche in April on Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. This week’s disaster was the worst since 42 people died in avalanches in the Mount Everest region in 1995, army officials said. – (Reuters)