Nepal Avalanche on Himlung Himal Leaves Two Dead as Rescuers Race to Find 14 Missing Expedition Workers

Rescue teams in Nepal resumed an urgent search operation on Monday for more than a dozen expedition workers who remain unaccounted for after a powerful avalanche tore through a base camp on Mount Himlung, killing at least two people and injuring or stranding others in one of the country's most treacherous climbing corridors.

The disaster struck on Sunday on the 7,126-metre (23,380-foot) peak in north-central Nepal, an area that has become increasingly popular among foreign mountaineers seeking a challenging but less crowded alternative to Everest and Annapurna. At least 10 people had been pulled from the snow and debris by Monday, according to authorities, but the fate of the remaining workers remained uncertain as nightfall and difficult terrain slowed the operation.

The bodies of the two confirmed victims were airlifted to Kathmandu on Monday and taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, where grieving family members and friends gathered at the morgue. The emotional scenes underscored the close-knit nature of Nepal's mountaineering community, in which many guides and porters come from the same villages and often work for the same expedition companies year after year.

Tul Singh Gurung, president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, told AFP that rescuers had worked until 6pm local time (12:30 GMT) on Sunday and had recovered two bodies before operations were suspended for the night. He said the search would continue for 14 expedition workers still missing, revising an earlier figure of 12. A team of eight mountain guides was involved in the search effort, he added.

All of those killed or missing were Nepali nationals. They had been at the base camp preparing for the arrival of foreign clients who were scheduled to climb the peak during Nepal's autumn climbing season, which began this month. The timing of the avalanche — before clients had even reached the mountain — meant that the victims were largely the support staff who make high-altitude expeditions possible: guides, cooks, porters and logistics workers whose labour is often overshadowed in popular accounts of mountaineering triumphs.

The avalanche occurred amid severe weather across the Himalayan nation. Flooding and landslides were reported over the weekend in the Manang district, where Himlung Himal is located, both triggered by heavy rainfall, according to the district administration. The combination of heavy rain at lower elevations and unstable snowpack at higher altitudes created hazardous conditions that likely contributed to the slide.

The government had already issued warnings of severe weather across the entire country. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) reported that 21 other people had been killed and five more were missing in different parts of Nepal between Thursday and Sunday, a grim tally that reflects the broader pattern of weather-related disasters affecting the region.

Nepal is still recovering from devastating flooding in August that swept away several villages and killed more than 1,400 people. According to the NDRRMA, 5,500 people remain missing and 13,795 have been rescued from that catastrophe. The scale of the August disaster has stretched emergency services and humanitarian agencies to their limits, complicating the response to fresh incidents such as the Himlung avalanche.

Scientists have cautioned that the recent disasters cannot be attributed to a single extreme weather event. Researchers from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group said in a report released last week that the August flooding was a "compound crisis" shaped by long-term warming, glacier retreat, permafrost thaw and geological instability. The findings suggest that Nepal's mountainous terrain is becoming increasingly hazardous as climate change alters the timing and intensity of precipitation and destabilises slopes that were once considered relatively safe.

The implications for Nepal's climbing and trekking industry, a vital source of foreign revenue and employment, are significant. Autumn is one of two main climbing windows, and expedition operators depend on reliable weather patterns to plan safe ascents. When avalanches strike even before clients arrive, questions inevitably arise about risk assessment, communication with weather authorities, and whether base camps are being located in areas exposed to avalanche runout zones.

For the families of the missing, the wait is agonising. Rescue operations at high altitude are constrained by thin air, limited helicopter access and the constant risk of further slides. The eight guides involved in the search are working in conditions that test even the most experienced mountaineers, and every hour that passes reduces the likelihood of finding survivors.

As authorities in Kathmandu coordinate the response, the avalanche on Himlung Himal serves as a stark reminder of the human cost borne by Nepal's mountain workers. They are the first to arrive at base camps, the last to leave, and often the most exposed when nature turns violent. The coming days will determine whether this latest disaster adds to an already devastating year for a country whose people have grown tragically accustomed to loss.