KATHMANDU - Nine members of a South Korean climbing expedition were killed after a violent snowstorm swept them off a cliff on Nepal’s Mount Gurja, one of the deadliest mountaineering accidents to hit the Himalayan nation in recent years.

The bodies of eight climbers — four South Koreans and four Nepali guides — were spotted near the wreckage of their camp by a rescue team Saturday morning, but strong winds were hampering the search effort.

A fifth South Korean climber was initially reported missing, but officials later confirmed he was at the camp when the deadly storm hit Friday and also perished.

“A mountain expedition of five South Korean nationals and four foreigners were swept off by strong winds at the base camp during their climb to Mount Gurja. (They) fell off a cliff and died,” the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.

Helicopter pilot Siddartha Gurung was among the first people to reach the site after the deadly storm and described a scene of total destruction.

He said all the tents had been flattened, reduced to a tangled mess of tarpaulin and broken polls, and the climbers’ bodies were scattered across a wide area, including some in a river bed some 500 metres (yards) from the main camp. “Everything is gone, all the tents are blown apart,” Gurung told AFP.

Attempts to reach the remote camp on Saturday to retrieve the bodies were hampered by strong winds, but a team was preparing to deploy at first light on Sunday if conditions allow, officials confirmed.

The freak storm is the deadliest incident to hit Nepal’s mountaineering industry since 18 people were killed at Mount Everest’s base camp in 2015 in an avalanche triggered by a powerful earthquake.

The previous year, 16 Sherpas were killed on Everest when an avalanche swept through the Khumbu Icefall during the busy spring climbing season. Then in October, a blizzard killed more than 40 tourists and their guides in the Annapurna region, a disaster that was largely blamed on poor weather forecasting and lacklustre safety standards in Nepal’s poorly regulated trekking industry. Mountain weather is known for being unpredictable with strong winds capable of throwing a person off balance.

In April, an Italian climber died after he was blown off Mount Dhaulagiri, the world’s seventh highest peak which neighbours Mount Gurja. But the Italian was at 6,900 metres when his tent was swept off the mountain, whereas the South Korean team were below 4,000 metres when they were hit by powerful winds.

“The fact that they were so low when it happened is unusual,” said experienced German climber Billi Bierling, who was forced to call off her own summit bid on Dhaulagiri last month because of heavy snowfall and high winds.

Dan Richards of Global Rescue, a US-based emergency assistance group that will be helping with the rescue effort, said it was unclear how a freak storm at a relatively low altitude turned so deadly.

“It is hard to understand how this occurred given the depth of (mountaineering) experience among the group,” he said.

The expedition was being lead by feted South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, who in 2013 became the fastest person to summit the world’s 14 highest mountains without using supplemental oxygen.

The team had been on 7,193-metre (23,599-foot) Mount Gurja since early October, waiting for a window of good weather so they could attempt to reach the summit, hoping to do so via a never-climbed route.

Rarely-climbed Gurja was first summited in 1969 by a Japanese team but no one has stood on its summit for 22 years, according to the Himalayan Database.

Four climbers have previously perished on Gurja’s flanks and a total of 30 have successfully reached its peak — a fraction of the more than 8,000 people who have summited Everest, the world’s highest mountain.

Thousands of climbers flock to Nepal each year — home to eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks — creating a lucrative mountain tourism industry that is a vital source of cash for the impoverished country. </s> Nine members of a South Korean climbing expedition were killed after a violent snowstorm swept them off a cliff on Nepal's Mount Gurja, one of the deadliest mountaineering accidents to hit the Himalayan nation in recent years.

The bodies of eight climbers -- four South Koreans and four Nepali guides -- were spotted near the wreckage of their camp by a rescue team Saturday morning, but strong winds were hampering the search effort.

A fifth South Korean climber was initially reported missing, but officials later confirmed he was at the camp when the deadly storm hit Friday and also perished.

"A mountain expedition of five South Korean nationals and four foreigners were swept off by strong winds at the base camp during their climb to Mount Gurja. (They) fell off a cliff and died," the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.

Helicopter pilot Siddartha Gurung was among the first people to reach the site after the deadly storm and described a scene of total destruction.

He said all the tents had been flattened, reduced to a tangled mess of tarpaulin and broken polls, and the climbers' bodies were scattered across a wide area, including some in a river bed some 500 metres (1,640 feet) away from the main camp.

"Everything is gone, all the tents are blown apart," Gurung told AFP.

Gurung landed a helicopter just above the expedition team's camp and attempted to descend to the campsite with a group of local villagers, but icy and unstable conditions meant they were unable to retrieve any of the bodies.

Rescue officials tried to send a second helicopter to the site but it was unable to fly due to strong winds, police spokesman Sailesh Thapa told AFP.

Another attempt will be made Sunday, he added.

The storm is the deadliest incident to hit Nepal's mountaineering industry since 18 people were killed at Mount Everest's base camp in 2015 in an avalanche triggered by a powerful earthquake.

The previous year, 16 Sherpas were killed on Everest when an avalanche swept through the Khumbu Icefall during the busy Spring climbing season. Then in October, a freak blizzard killed more than 40 tourists and their guides in the Annapurna region, a disaster that was largely blamed on poor weather forecasting and lacklustre safety standards in Nepal's poorly regulated trekking industry.

Mountain weather is known for being unpredictable with strong winds capable of throwing a person off balance.

In April, an Italian climber died after he was blown off Mount Dhaulagiri, the world's seventh highest peak which neighbours Mount Gurja. But the Italian was at 6,900 metres when his tent was swept off the mountain, whereas the South Korean team were below 4,000 metres when they were hit by powerful winds.

"The fact that they were so low when it happened is unusual," said experienced German climber Billi Bierling, who was forced to call off her own summit bid on Dhaulagiri last month because of heavy snowfall and high winds.

The South Korean team had been on 7,193-metre (23,599-foot) Mount Gurja since early October, waiting for a window of good weather so they could attempt to reach the summit.

Feted South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, who in 2013 became the fastest person to summit the world's 14 highest mountains without using supplemental oxygen, was leading the expedition, according to a government-issued climbing permit seen by AFP.

The permit listed four South Korean climbers, but a fifth member had joined the team later, according to Suresh Dakal of Trekking Camp Nepal, the expedition organiser.

A sixth South Korean national was staying in a village in the valley below the mountain when the powerful storm struck and survived, according to a local police report.

Rarely-climbed Gurja was first summited in 1969 by a Japanese team but no one has stood on its summit for 22 years, according to the Himalayan Database.

The South Korean team were planning to scale the mountain via a never-climbed route, the Korean Alpine Federation said.

Four climbers have previously perished on Gurja's flanks and a total of 30 have successfully reached its peak -- a fraction of the more than 8,000 people who have summited Everest, the world's highest mountain.

Thousands of climbers flock to Nepal each year -- home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks -- creating a lucrative mountain tourism industry that is a vital source of cash for the impoverished country. </s> KATHMANDU: Nine members of a South Korean climbing expedition were killed after a violent snowstorm swept them off a cliff on Nepal’s Mount Gurja, one of the deadliest mountaineering accidents to hit the Himalayan nation in recent years.

The bodies of eight climbers -- four South Koreans and four Nepali guides -- were spotted near the wreckage of their camp by a rescue team on Saturday morning, but strong winds were hampering the search effort.

A fifth South Korean climber was initially reported missing, but officials later confirmed he was at the camp when the deadly storm hit on Friday and also perished.

"A mountain expedition of five South Korean nationals and four foreigners were swept off by strong winds at the base camp during their climb to Mount Gurja. They fell off a cliff and died," the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement. Helicopter pilot Siddartha Gurung was among the first people to reach the site after the deadly storm and described a scene of total destruction.

He said all the tents had been flattened, reduced to a tangled mess of tarpaulin and broken polls, and the climbers’ bodies were scattered across a wide area, including some in a river bed some 500 metres away from the main camp.

"Everything is gone, all the tents are blown apart," Gurung told AFP.

Gurung landed a helicopter just above the expedition team’s camp and attempted to descend to the campsite with a group of local villagers, but icy and unstable conditions meant they were unable to retrieve any of the bodies.

Rescue officials tried to send a second helicopter to the site but it was unable to fly due to strong winds, police spokesman Sailesh Thapa told AFP. Another attempt will be made Sunday, he added.

The storm is the deadliest incident to hit Nepal’s mountaineering industry since 18 people were killed at Mount Everest’s base camp in 2015 in an avalanche triggered by a powerful earthquake.

The previous year, 16 Sherpas were killed on Everest when an avalanche swept through the Khumbu Icefall during the busy Spring climbing season. </s> KATHMANDU: All nine members of a South Korean climbing expedition were confirmed dead Saturday (Oct 13) after a violent snowstorm devastated their camp on Nepal's Mount Gurja, one of the deadliest mountaineering accidents to hit the Himalayan nation in recent years.

The bodies of eight climbers - four South Koreans and four Nepali guides - were spotted among the wreckage of their camp by a rescue team early Saturday morning, but strong winds and icy conditions were hampering the search effort.

A fifth South Korean climber was initially reported missing, but officials have now confirmed that he was at the camp when the deadly storm hit and is believed to have also perished.

"A mountain expedition of five South Korean nationals and four foreigners were swept off by strong winds at the base camp during their climb to Mount Gurja. (They) fell off a cliff and died," the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.

Helicopter pilot Siddartha Gurung was among the first people to reach the site after the deadly storm and described a scene of total destruction with the tents flattened and the climber's bodies scattered across the area.

"Everything is gone, all the tents are blown apart," Gurung told AFP.

Gurung landed a helicopter just above the expedition team's camp, but icy and unstable conditions meant they were unable to retrieve any of the bodies.

Nepal's tourism department said a second helicopter was being sent to the site Saturday afternoon.

"A helicopter has been sent for second rescue attempt but we are not sure whether it can get close to the incident site," said spokeswoman Mira Acharya.

The storm is the deadliest incident to hit Nepal's mountaineering industry since 18 people were killed at the Mount Everest base camp in 2015 in an avalanche triggered by a powerful earthquake.

The previous year, 16 Sherpas were killed on Everest when an avalanche swept through the Khumbu Icefall.

Wangchu Sherpa, managing director of Trekking Camp Nepal, who organised the expedition, said they raised the alarm after they had not heard from the South Korean team for nearly 24 hours.

"After they (the climbers) were out of contact since yesterday we sent people from the village and a helicopter to search for them," he said.

The group of South Korean climbers and their Nepali guides had been camped at the foot of the 7,193m Mount Gurja since early October, waiting for a window of good weather so they could attempt to reach the summit.

Feted South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, who in 2013 became the fastest person to summit the world's 14 highest mountains without using supplemental oxygen, was leading the expedition, according to a government-issued climbing permit seen by AFP.

The permit listed four South Korean climbers, but a fifth member had joined the team later, according to Suresh Dakal of Trekking Camp Nepal.

Rarely-climbed Gurja lies in Nepal's Annapurna region, next to avalanche-prone Dhaulagiri - the world's seventh-highest mountain.

Gurja was first summited in 1969 by a Japanese team but no one has stood on its summit for 22 years, according to the Himalayan Database.

The South Korean team were planning to scale the mountain via a never-climbed route, according to the Korean Alpine Federation.

Four climbers have perished on Gurja's flanks and a total of 30 have successfully reached its peak - a fraction of the more than 8,000 people who have summited Everest, the world's highest mountain.

Thousands of climbers flock to Nepal each year - home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks - creating a lucrative mountain tourism industry that is a vital source of cash for the impoverished country. </s> At least nine climbers were killed when an avalanche destroyed their base camp on Mount Gurja Himal in Nepal, their expedition organiser said on Saturday. The deceased include five South Koreans.

Trekking Camp Nepal Managing Director Wangchu Sherpa said the Nepalese climbers who were killed have been identified as Chhiring Bhote and Lakpa Sangbu Bhote from Shankhuwasabha district, Natra Bahadur Chantel from Myagdi district, and Phurbu Bhote. Five South Korean climbers – belonging to the group Koreanway Gurja Himal Expedition 2018 – including team leader Kim Chang-ho, were killed in the avalanche on Friday evening, The Himalayan Times reported. The other South Korean climbers who died have been identified as Lee Jaehun, Rim Il-jin, Yoo Youngjik, and Jeong Joon-mo.

Mountaineer Kim Chang-ho was the first Korean to climb 14 peaks above 8,000 metres without using supplemental oxygen, The Himalayan Times reported.

The victims had begun scaling the mountain on October 7, PTI reported. Sherpa said they were waiting at the base camp at an altitude of 3,500 metres for fair weather, when a heavy snowstorm followed by a landslide killed them. A rescue helicopter was dispatched to the area on Saturday morning, but it is not clear if it found any survivors. </s> Police in Nepal fear nine climbers are dead after their base camp on a Himalayan peak was destroyed in a violent storm, according to reports Saturday.

Police said a five-member South Korean expedition team and four Nepali guides were at the base camp of Gurja Himal when the storm struck, the BBC reported.

“The camp was completely destroyed,” Myagdi district official Liladhar Adhikari was heard saying, according to the BBC. “[A recovery team] could see the bodies of the climbers scattered near the camp.”

Villagers who reached base camp Saturday afternoon found the bodies of four South Korean climbers, two Nepalese guides and another person yet to be identified, while the search was continuing for two more, police official Bir Bahadur Budamagar said, according to the Associated Press.

The two who were missing were also feared dead.

Local media reported that the dead include South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, the fastest person to reach the summits of the world’s 14 highest mountains without using supplemental oxygen.

AMERICAN SCIENTIST DIES WHILE ROCK CLIMBING IN NEW ZEALAND

Two rescue helicopters were unable to land Saturday due to bad weather conditions.

The climbers were attempting to scale the 23,590-foot peak during the autumn climbing season.

The BBC reported that according to the Himalayan Database no one has stood on Gurja’s summit since 1996.

Only 30 people have successfully climbed to its peak compared with more the than 8,000 people who have reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Everest. </s> KATHMANDU(AFP) - At least eight climbers from a South Korean expedition have died on Nepal's Mount Gurja after their camp was devastated by a violent snowstorm, officials said on Saturday (Oct 13).

The bodies of eight climbers, including their Nepali guides, were spotted among the wreckage of their camp by a rescue team early Saturday morning, but unstable and icy conditions were hampering the search effort.

"We assume the incident happened because of a snowstorm because trees are broken and the tents. Even the dead bodies are scattered," police spokesman Sailesh Thapa told AFP.

Thapa said a ninth climber may also be missing. A helicopter reached the site and managed to land just above the expedition team's camp, but were unable to retrieve any of the bodies.

"Everything is gone, all the tents are blown apart. The conditions were too icy to continue the search," pilot Siddartha Gurung told AFP.

Gurung said a rescue team would hopefully return to the camp on Sunday, if conditions improved.

Wangchu Sherpa of Trekking Camp Nepal, who organised the expedition, said they raised the alarm after they had not heard from the team for nearly 24 hours.

"After they (the climbers) were out of contact since yesterday we sent people from the village and a helicopter to search for them," he said.

The group of South Korean climbers and their Nepali guides were camped at the foot of 7,193 m Mount Gurja, waiting for a window of good weather so they could attempt to reach the summit.

Feted South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, who in 2013 became the fastest person to summit the world's 14 highest mountains without using supplemental oxygen, is reportedly among the dead, according to local media.

Rarely-climbed Gurja lies in Nepal's Annapurna region, next to avalanche-prone Dhaulagiri - the world's seventh highest mountain.

Gurja was first summited in 1969 by a Japanese team but no one has stood on its summit for 22 years, according to the Himalayan Database.

Four climbers have perished on its flanks and a total of 30 have successfully reached its peak - a fraction of the more than 8,000 people who have summited the world's highest mountain, Everest.

Thousands of climbers flock to Nepal each year - home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks - creating a lucrative mountain tourism industry that is a vital source of cash for the impoverished country. </s> Four climbers have died and another five are in a critical condition after they became trapped overnight on the Swiss Alps during an unexpected storm.

Four climbers have died and another five are in a critical condition after they became trapped overnight on the Swiss Alps during an unexpected storm.

Four climbers die after night trapped on Swiss Alps

Police in Valais in south-western Switzerland said seven helicopters were used to rescue 14 hikers from France, Germany and Italy in the Pigne d’Arolla region.

Valais police spokesman Markus Rieder said the climbers were caught off-guard by high winds and snow and were forced to spend the night outdoors. Several of those rescued were suffering from hypothermia, with three dying in hospital. A fourth climber was reportedly killed in a fall.

Police said the group had been trying to reach the Vignettes hikers hut at 10,357ft (3,157m) in the Alps. Europe has suffered turbulent weather over the past few weeks, with unseasonable spells of hot and cold.

In Germany, firefighters pumped rainwater from basements and cleared flooded road tunnels after a storm swept through parts of the west overnight. The Aachen region was hardest hit, with rescue services receiving hundreds of calls. Police said nobody was harmed. </s> Nepali sherpas have found four climbers dead in their tents on Mount Everest, officials said on Wednesday, with suspicion they died of carbon monoxide poisoning, taking the death toll on the world's highest mountain to 10 in the past month.

KATHMANDU: Nepali sherpas have found four climbers dead in their tents on Mount Everest, officials said on Wednesday, with suspicion they died of carbon monoxide poisoning, taking the death toll on the world's highest mountain to 10 in the past month.

The four climbers were found in two tents at Camp Four, at 8,000 metres (26,246 feet), overnight, Mingma Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks group, to which the sherpas belonged, said in Kathmandu.

It was not clear how they died and their identities had not been established, Mingma said.

The Himalayan Times reported that two of the dead were foreigners and rescuers believed they had suffocated.

"It is most likely they died from carbon monoxide poisoning by using their stoves in the tent without proper ventilation," U.S. climber Alan Arnette, who blogs on Everest, said in a post.

The sherpas who discovered the bodies were on their way to retrieve the body of Vladimir Strba of Slovakia who died near the 8,850 metre (29,035 feet) summit on the weekend.

Strba's body has been brought down to Camp Two at 6,400 metres (21,000 feet) and was expected to be brought down to base camp later on Wednesday, Mingma said.

More than 5,000 climbers have scaled Mount Everest since it was first climbed by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953, and nearly 300 have died trying.

Many of the victims remain on the mountain, entombed in snow, as it its too difficult to bring their bodies down.

Exhaustion, exposure, frostbite, falls and altitude sickness are major causes of death on Everest.

But the biggest killer in recent years has been avalanches.

Eighteen people were killed in 2015 when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake triggered avalanches that smashed into the base camp.

A year earlier, 16 sherpas hauling gear to higher camps for climbers were killed when they were hit by avalanche while they were crossing the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, just above base camp.

Climbers can ascend Everest from the Nepal side and the Chinese side. One of the 10 deaths this has been on the Chinese side.

Nepal has issued permits to 371 foreign climbers this season, up from last year's 281, each of which cost US$11,000.

In addition, hundreds of sherpas are climbing the mountain, or helping others to.

Permit fees are a major source of income for cash-strapped Nepal which earned more than US$4 million this year from Everest permits, officials said.

The climbing season closes at the end of May when the rainy season traditionally begins, bringing cloud and snow at high altitudes. </s> The bodies of four climbers were found inside a tent on Everest, an expedition organiser said Wednesday, taking the death toll on the world's highest peak this spring season to 10.

>Kathmandu: The bodies of four climbers were found inside a tent on Everest, an expedition organiser said Wednesday, taking the death toll on the world's highest peak this spring season to 10.

The climbers were found at camp four " at 7,950 metres (26,085 feet) " on Tuesday by a rescue team who were there to retrieve the body of a Slovak climber who died on the mountain on Sunday.

"Our rescuers found bodies of four climbers in a tent at camp four yesterday. We don't have the details of who they are or how they died yet," said Mingma Sherpa, head of Seven Summits Trek, a Kathmandu-based agency that runs expeditions and rescue operations on the mountain.

Local media reported that two of the dead were foreign climbers and two were Sherpa guides.

The Nepal government liaison officer stationed at base camp could not immediately be reached for confirmation.

Four people perished on the 8,848 metre peak over the weekend, including American doctor Roland Yearwood and Slovak climber Vladimir Strba.

Both died above the 8,000 metre mark " an area known as the mountain's "death zone" where oxygen levels fall to dangerously low levels, heightening the risk of altitude sickness.

The body of Indian climber Ravi Kumar, 27, was spotted on Monday two days after he summited and then lost contact. A rescue operation is currently under way to retrieve his body.

An Australian climber died on the Tibet side of the mountain on Sunday.

This season has also claimed the lives of legendary Swiss climber Ueli Steck and 85-year-old Min Bahadur Sherchan, who died attempting to reclaim his title as the world's oldest person to climb Everest.

More than 382 climbers have successfully reached the summit from the south side so far this season, with at least 120 doing so from the Tibet side.

Many are still waiting to make their final push to the summit before the monsoon arrives in early June, marking the end of the short spring climbing season.

Last year Everest claimed the lives of five climbers. In all, 640 people reached the summit.
Five South Korean climbers and four Nepali guides die after a snowstorm destroys their camp on a Himalayan peak in Nepal.