Avalanche in Nepal kills two mountain guides, over a dozen missing

An avalanche has hit the base camp of the 7,126-meter Himlung Himal mountain in Nepal, near the border with Tibet, killing two people and leaving at least 14 others unaccounted for.

Those killed and missing are all mountain guides and support staff working for Nepalese expedition companies, who had been setting up the base camp ahead of the arrival of paying clients planning to climb the peak. The Nepal National Mountain Guide Association said 14 kitchen staff and two climbing guides from various companies had gone missing. Both guides were later located, but were found dead.

Conflicting reports on numbers

There is uncertainty over exactly how many people were present when the avalanche struck on Sunday morning. Local police said at least 22 people were at the base camp at the time. Bibhuti Chand Thakur, head of trekking company Himalayan Holidays Nepal, said search and rescue efforts were ongoing and that chances of survival remained relatively high due to fresh snow cover. He noted that a definitive count of missing or surviving people was not yet available, as the remote location is cut off from communication.

Authorities had issued warnings about severe weather across Nepal over the weekend, with rain affecting much of the country since Thursday and snowfall reported in higher northern areas. The weather disrupted roads and trekking routes, prompting officials to suspend climbing and trekking activity on several mountains.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 peaks above 8,000 meters, and mountaineering and trekking tourism form a vital part of its economy. The avalanche comes as the country continues recovering from severe flooding in August that killed more than 1,400 people and left thousands missing.