Nepal halts Himlung search as 12 remain missing after massive avalanche

KATHMANDU - Nepal has suspended search operations following a massive avalanche at the base camp of the 7,126m Himlung peak, feared to be the worst expedition disaster in over a decade, the National Mountain Guide Association reported on Tuesday. Four bodies have been recovered since the avalanche struck early Sunday, leaving 12 Nepali workers missing.

The challenging conditions prompted the search to be paused. The 12 missing individuals were part of a team preparing for future expeditions on Himlung, a popular destination near the Chinese border for mountaineers aiming to climb 7,000-meter peaks.

Rescue team leader Mingma G Sherpa expressed little hope of finding the missing alive, stating that the recovered bodies indicate the rest are unlikely to survive. The avalanche's scale is immense, and the team of eight mountain guides had reached the base camp on Sunday evening to initiate the search, cutting through over four meters of snow. Tents were buried beneath deep snow.

This incident marks one of Nepal's worst mountaineering disasters in recent years. In 2014, an avalanche claimed 16 lives on Everest, and in 2015, a devastating earthquake resulted in 18 deaths, also on Everest. Nepal is currently searching for bodies from a series of devastating floods triggered by a mountain glacial collapse on August 26, which killed over 1,400 people and left more than 6,000 missing.

Heavy rainfall since Thursday has triggered additional floods and landslides, claiming at least 21 lives, according to the national disaster agency. Nepal's reliance on mountaineering and trekking tourism is immense, as the country is home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks.