At least one Israeli dead, 12 injured in Nepal

An Israeli rescue worker said Wednesday that 12 Israeli trekkers were saved after an avalanche and a blizzard hit a mountain pass in northern Nepal Tuesday.

Earlier Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry confirmed that an Israeli hiker was among at least 17 people killed in the snowstorm. The family of the hiker was notified of his death, the ministry said.

The rescue worker told Channel 10 that the wounded were receiving medical treatment in Nepal, adding that some were in serious condition, and “even worse.”

Those who managed to find cover in a village at the end of the Annapurna trek before the blizzard hit fared far better than those who did not, he said, adding that those who had yet to make contact with officials or families were urged to do so.

The Foreign Ministry said that searches for missing hikers, of whom there are over 100 according to Nepalese officials, would continue at daybreak.

According to the Channel 10 report, rescue efforts would also be renewed Thursday morning for an Israeli trapped on Mount Everest.

Earlier reports said three Israeli backpackers were killed in the avalanche, while an AFP story said at least two of the dead were Israeli.

Severe weather triggered by the tail end of Cyclone Hudhud, which battered neighbouring India’s east coast, hit trekking groups on the Annapurna circuit as well as mountaineers trying to scale the avalanche-prone Mount Dhaulagiri in central Nepal on Tuesday.

As the weather cleared on Wednesday in the remote Mustang and Manang districts, rescuers trudging through waist-deep snow found 27 stranded trekkers, an official said.

But some 168 foreign tourists were registered to hike in the districts and authorities are now trying to track the rest of them down, said police official Ganesh Rai who is heading the rescue effort.

Two Slovakian mountaineers and three Nepalese guides went missing after an avalanche struck teams stationed at the base camp of 8,167-metre (26,795 foot) Mount Dhaulagiri on Tuesday night.

“Two Slovakian climbers and three Nepalese guides are missing at Dhaulagiri base camp after an avalanche, they were here to scale the mountain,” local official Tulsiram Bhandari told AFP from Myagdi district.

In neighbouring Mustang, rescuers conducting helicopter sorties found twelve bodies, — two Israelis, a Pole, a Vietnamese and eight Nepalese trekkers and guides — blanketed by thick snow.

“There has been heavy snowfall in the area, up to three feet (91 centimetres),” said police official Rai.

“We have found twelve bodies in Mustang, including four foreigners — two from Israel, one from Poland and one from Vietnam,” Rai told AFP, correcting his earlier information that two of those killed were Polish.

Rescuers, aided by a Nepal army helicopter and several others hired by trekking agencies, also found the bodies of five hikers caught in an avalanche in neighbouring Manang.

“A chopper search has located the bodies of five people, including four Canadians and an Indian, killed in an avalanche,” Rai said.

In a separate incident in Manang, three yak herders were killed in another avalanche on Tuesday while grazing their animals, district official Devendra Lamichanne told AFP.

Another official said he hoped those trekkers still unaccounted for had simply been cut off by the blizzard and poor telecommunications.

“The phone network is not very good so we have not been able to get in touch with the missing, but we hope to find them later today,” said Mustang district official Baburam Bhandari.

Thousands of trekkers visit the Annapurna region every October, when weather conditions are deemed favorable for hiking trips. However, Mustang has seen unusually heavy snowfall this week as a result of Cyclone Hudhud, which struck neighboring India’s eastern coast at the weekend.

Last week, two Israeli tourists were killed in a rafting accident in Peru.