At
least 39 people, including foreign hikers and Nepalese, were
killed in Nepal by unseasonal blizzards and avalanches.
Most bodies
were found along a popular trekking route in the Thorang-La area near
Mount Annapurna. In
the district of Manang, four Canadian hikers and an Indian
national were killed in an avalanche. A total of some 370 people have
been rescued.
KATHMANDU,
Nepal (Reuter) - A teenage boy given up for dead in an avalanche
survived a 24-hour ordeal and was pulled from deep snow Sunday,
safe except for frostbite, Nepali rescue officials said.
The
rescue
of 17-year-old Deepak Nepali against all the odds made the death
toll in weekend avalanches in the Himalayan kingdom 42, down from
an earlier announced 43.
A
total of
17 foreigners are known to have died -- 13 Japanese trekkers
killed by Saturday's avalanche and an Irish woman, two Canadians
and a German buried in a landslide.
Rescuers
Sunday helped some 115 foreign trekkers from a snow-ravaged
valley near Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain.
``Some
of
the rescued were in shoulder-deep snow,'' said Bikash J.B. Rana,
a Nepal Airways helicopter pilot who took part.
``Most
are
suffering from snow blindness, frostbite and hunger,'' Rana said.
``Many of them would have died had rescuers not reached them
today.''
The
avalanche in which the 13 Japanese died Saturday was also
believed to have killed 13 Nepalis. But Deepak managed to survive
by perching between two rocks in four-foot deep snow, rescue
officials said.
The
Japanese, their Sherpa guides and porters were buried in the snow
as they slept in a camp at Pangka, some 170 miles northeast of
Kathmandu about 1 a.m. Saturday.
The
Japanese were trekking their way to the Gokyo Valley, the popular
hiking area 12 miles southwest of Everest.
Another
17
people were killed when landslides caused by continuous rains
crushed houses and trekkers' lodges in Manang and Panchathar
districts.
The
four
foreigners who died in Manang district in mid-western Nepal were
a Canadian named Alan Sordi, another Canadian, an unidentified
German and an Irish women named only as Mary Josephine, the Home
(Interior) Ministry said.
Tourism
officials said there could be up to 500 foreigners in the Everest
region. More trekkers may have been stranded in Taplejung
district, east of Everest, rescue officials said.
Rescuers
armed with special digging equipment rushed to a remote region
near the 29,028 foot peak.
The
bodies
of five Japanese and three Nepalis were pulled out, but rescue
work was hampered by diffficult conditions.
Food
packets, medicines and clothes were dropped from helicopters in
the Gokyo Valley area.
Saturday's
avalanche was the worst disaster to strike a trekking or
mountaineering expedition in Nepal, whose towering peaks and
pristine valleys attract about 65,000 foreign hikers and climbers
each year.
The Associated Press Kathmandu, Nepal
At least 26 people were feared dead Saturday after a strong avalanche struck their camp near Mount Everest. Thirteen Japanese trekkers and 13 Nepalese including 11 guides were at the camp in the vilage of Panga on Friday night when the avalanche hit, said Takashi Miyahara of the Trans-Himalyan Trekking Co., which conducted the trekkers' group. The group was returning from the 17,655 foot high Gokyo Peak, about 11 miles southwest of Everest, the world's highest peak. Rescuers reached the camping site on Saturday using a helicopter. "The area was completely covered by snow. We could only see rooftops of the huts where the trekkers were staying," Miyahara said.
Submitted by Bruce Tremper, UAFC Director
Reuters' New wire service on Saturday, Nov. 11
Kathmandu
A huge avalanche struck the overnight camp of a Japanese trekking group in the Mount Everest region of Nepal Saturday, killing 26 people, including 13 Japanese, as they slept, rescue and hiking officials said.
The wave of snow buried 11 guides and porters, as well as two residents of the Pangka region near Everest, the world's highest peak, Takashi Miyahara, chairman of Trans Himalayan Treks, told Reuters in the Nepali capital Kathmandu.
It was believed to be the biggest avalanche disaster to hit a trekking or mountaineering expedition in Nepal, where majestic peaks and pristine valleys attract about 65,000 foreign hikers and climbers every year.
In Nepal's worst mountaineering accident, 14 mountaineers, mostly Koreans, were killed over two days in 1972 by avalanches on Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth highest peak at 26,775 feet.
In the latest disaster, 19 people, including 15 foreigners, were evacuated from the area after the avalanche swept over the camp at 1 a.m., an official of Trans Himalayan Treks, which organized the trek, said.
The rescue helicopter ferried them to Syangboche district.
Helicopter pilot Tashi Sherpa told Reuters after returning from a search mission that only the rooftops of houses could be seen and the bodies were buried under snow.
``It is confirmed that they are dead,'' he said.
Miyahara, who accompanied the rescue team to the site, said three lodges were buried under snow.
Triggered by a huge cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, some six feet of snow fell in the mountainous region this week, apparently catching the trekkers off guard.
The trekking party, which included local Sherpa guides and porters, was returning from Gokyo Valley, which has long been popular with Western trekkers who do not seek high altitude climbing.
The valley is about 12 miles southwest of Everest and 170 miles from Kathmandu.
The pilot Sherpa said the evacuated trekkers were all unhurt. Their nationalities were not immediately known.
Stan Armington of Malla Treks in Kathmandu said 500 to 1,000 foreigners come to the Himalayan kingdom every year to climb peaks, while more than 60,000 more visitors are trekkers.
From the Wall Street Journal
85 rescued, 18
japanese and nepalese trekkers dead. Seven others are
missing. In Western Nepal, 11 people died in a landslide.
Heavy rain was
the cause of the landslide, and avalanche.
Nov. 13 Kathmandu Post,
KATHMANDU, Nov 12 - Rescuers have so far recovered 10 bodies of Japanese trekkers and 8 bodies of Sherpas buried in an avalanche in the Gokyo area in Khumbu region on Sunday. One Nepalese guide was reportedly found alive while three Japanese trekkers are still missing.
Rescue team has airlifted 85 persons to safety from the Gokyo area, officials told The Kathmandu Post Sunday.
Officials said rescuers were also trying to airlift about 25 trekkers in the Manang region which was also struck by a landslide Friday following two days of torrential rains.
So far 33 persons, including 22 foreign tourists, have been reported dead by the avalanche and landslide and officials fear the figure could mount as the operation continues.
Meanwhile tour operators say, more than 50 trekkers were in the Gokyo area when the avalanche hit at around 1 PM Saturday. There could be more tourists in the area since other tour operators also handle trekking tours in the region, said a Trans Himalayan Tours official. His agency was handling 13 Japanese tourists and all of them are feared dead.
In Manang, Bagaarchaap, search team has found all 11 bodies of tourists swept away by the landslide. Four bodies of European trekkers were airlifted to the capital on Sunday.
According to police the dead include a Canadian and a woman from Ireland. The nationalities of the other foreigners is yet to be established.
Of the eight Nepali villagers reported missing in the area, the bodies of seven have been recovered. We fear that there could be more casualties, since local lodge owners say most of the lodgers have gone missing, Palden Gurung, the MP for Manang said shortly after arriving from his constituency.
Gurung estimated the damage in Manang to be worth around Rs 20 million. The landslide also swept away 17 houses in the area.
The tragedy which struck the nations Himalayan region is considered the worst ever. Last year 13 climbers lost their lives on the slopes of Mt. Pisang in Dhaulagiri zone.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, a rescue task force has been formed here in the capital comprising the Tourism Ministry, Himalayan Rescue Association, Trekking Agents Association Nepal, Nepal Mountaineering Institute and the Nepal Police. Royal Nepal Army is also conducting rescue helicopter flights in both the areas.
Rescue flights are being operated along Hinku valley, Makalu Barun area, Kanchanjunga, Ghunsa and Everest regions in the east and along Gorkha, Manaslu, Larkela Pass and Thorongla Pass in the west. In places where helicopters have been unable to land due to heavy snow, rations and first aid equipment have been dropped where people have been sighted. Snow in the Gokyo region is 3.5 metres deep.
As the rescue operations continue, new information has emerged that suggests the lives might have been saved had the tour operators asked for a special weather forecast from the Department of Meteorology, and had the department foreseen the foul weather that was to hit Gokyo area.
The Department puts out a special weather bulletin only on request, and department officials said tour operators sometimes ask for such bulletins. They did not request this time, an official said.
However, even if such a request had been placed, it would not have been of any help. According to an official in the Department, his agency had not foreseen any foul weather in the Himalayas that day. That is surprising, say observers, who point out that most of South Asia was experiencing the effects of a cyclone which hit the Bay of Bengal around that time.
Reuters News Service, Nov. 16
KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuter) - Rescuers in helicopters found seven bodies buried in snow Tuesday, raising the death toll in one of Nepal's worst avalanche disasters to 49. Searchers continued to try to find foreign trekkers still stranded in the Himalayas.
The bodies of four Nepali nationals were found with three dead Japanese near Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain some 300 miles east of the Himalayan kingdom's capital Kathmandu.
Rescuers continued to search Tuesday for foreign trekkers stranded in the Himalayan mountains by a snowstorm that dumped two feet of snow on the area.
A huge avalanche buried 25 people near Mount Everest. Others died as houses collapsed elsewhere in Nepal.
By midday Tuesday, helicopters had plucked 477 people including 178 foreigners from the snows, mostly from the Everest region which was the hardest hit area. The names of those who were evacuated were not available.
``This is the first time that such a large trekking area has been hit by disaster,'' government spokesman Prachanda Man Shrestha said.
Officials said hundreds, perhaps thousands, of foreign trekkers had set out on hiking expeditions across the Himalayan kingdom before the freak snow storm, churned up by a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, hit the region.
November is the peak season for trekkers. Some 9,000 foreigners registered in the three weeks to November 8 for trekking expeditions in seven locations.
About 2,700 said they planned to go to the Everest region, while 3,200 were headed to Annapurna area and another 300 to the Kanchenjunga region.
Officials said they did not know exactly how many trekkers, guides and porters had been trapped in the mountains by freezing cold weather, deep snow and avalanches.
Monday helicopters ferried survivors from the Gokyo valley in the Everest region, Manang in mid-west Nepal and Langtang in central Nepal, Shrestha said.
Nepal - Consular Information Sheet December 8,
1995
In November 1995, unusually severe storms caused avalanches and landslides that killed foreign trekkers and their Nepalese guides and stranded hundreds of others. The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu strongly advises all American citizens to exercise extreme care when trekking at higher altitudes for the remainder of the season. Although trails may be clear, trekkers should be alert to the possibility of avalanches from slopes above.
Checking on conditions in the high country before leaving Kathmandu can help to reduce risks. Both the U.S. Embassy and the Himalayan Rescue Association are good sources of information about trail conditions and possible hazards.
The Detroit News November 16, 1995
Hikers in Nepal
spared from deadly avalanche. Dilip Ganguly,
Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal
Feeling uneasy at
an unexpected snowfall, the Nepalese guide
woke Ron and Deborah Plotkin in their tent in the dead of night
and told them pack up. Moments later, the mountain toppled with a
rumble. The avalanche just missed the Plotkins.
For the next
three days, they and their guide crawled and
stumbled through thick banks of snow and waded across icy rivers,
trying to reach safety. At night, they dug caves in the snow for
shelter, and thought of their three children in San Diego: Ian,
14, Rachel, 9, and Melia, 5. "I prayed to God: 'Don't snatch
me from them, please. They need us,'" said Deborah Plotkin,
41.
Forty-six people,
including one of the Plotkins' six Sherpa
guides, were killed in avalanches and landslides last weekend in
one of Nepal's worst disasters in decades. Another 517 people,
including 238 foreigners, have been rescued. But hundreds of
hikers and Nepalese villagers may still be trapped in the
Himalayan mountains, including more than a dozen Americans.
Helicopters
rescued nearly 60 people on Wednesday and were
continuing the search. The Gokyo Valley trails buried under the
avalanches, along the ancient trading route between Tibet and
Nepal, are popular with adventure tourists because they offer
panoramic views of the world's tallest mountains, including the
29,028-foot Mt. Everest.
The secretive
kingdom opened its borders to outsiders and its
majestic mountains to tourism in 1950.
"It was a dream
trip," said Deborah Plotkin, a
teacher. They set off Nov. 1 with six Nepalese porters and
guides, and two yaks to carry their baggage, on an expedition to
20,423-foot high Island Peak. On Friday, when the couple pitched
their tents at 6 p.m., it started snowing. "The little
flakes seemed innocuous," said Plotkin, a 39-year-old
psychologist. But at 2.30 a.m., a guide woke them.
As they came out
of their tent, they heard a rumbling sound,
and tons of snow crashed down near their camp site. "Just
after the sound, I looked back and saw four of our Nepalese staff
gone," apparently buried under the snow, said Deborah
Plotkin.
Snow had piled up
to nearly six feet. Even the yaks couldn't
move. "And then the crawling started. We could move only 20
feet in one hour," Ron Plotkin said. Before dusk Saturday,
they and their guide dug a cave in the snow to protect them
overnight.
"I came out of
the snow cave and looked at the sky and I
saw one glittering star," said Deborah Plotkin, struggling
to speak through tears. After crawling and stumbling for another
day, they spent the second night in a makeshift cave. Then on
Monday, they found a path in the snow and followed it to the tiny
hamlet of Chikoon.
One of their
guides, Ram Kumar, died of the cold. But they
learned later that the four who were buried in the avalanche
managed to escape.
"When I saw
people, I ran despite the pain, and we were
welcomed by a group of trekkers," Deborah Plotkin said. A
helicopter rescued them.
*** 26 Trekkers Die in Avalanches near Everest ***
From: "Ann and
Cameron." <annrober@infosphere.com>
Newsgroups: rec.climbing
Subject: The Avalanche In Nepal
Date: 13 Nov 1995 06:08:48 GMT
Organization: RoFIntUG
To: AllFrom: Cam Burns
This was in Reuters' New wire service on Saturday, Nov.
11KATHMANDU (Reuter)
- A huge avalanche struck the overnight camp of a Japanese
trekking group in
the Mount Everest region of Nepal Saturday,
killing 26 people, including 13 Japanese, as they slept,
rescue and hiking
officials said. The wave of snow buried 11 guides and
porters, as well as
two residents of the Pangka region near Everest, the world's
highest peak,
Takashi Miyahara, chairman of Trans Himalayan Treks, told
Reuters in the Nepal
capital Kathmandu. It was believed to be the biggest
avalanche disaster to
hit a trekking or mountaineering expedition in Nepal, where
majestic peaks and
pristine valleys attract about 65,000 foreign hikers and
climbers every year.
In Nepal's worst mountaineering accident, 14 mountaineers,
mostly Koreans,
were killed over two days in 1972 by avalanches on Mount
Manaslu,
the world's eighth highest peak at 26,775 feet. In the
latest disaster, 19
people, including 15 foreigners, were evacuated from the
area after the
avalanche swept over the camp at 1 a.m., an official of
Trans Himalayan Treks,
which organized the trek, said. The rescue helicopter
ferried them to
Syangboche district. Helicopter pilot Tashi Sherpa told
Reuters after
returning from a search mission that only the rooftops of
houses could be seen
and the bodies were buried under snow.
"It is confirmed that they are dead," he said. Miyahara, who
accompanied the
rescue team to the site, said three lodges were buried under
snow.
Triggered by a huge cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, some six
feet of snow fell
in the mountainous region this week, apparently catching the
trekkers
off guard. The trekking party, which included local Sherpa
guides and porters,
was returning from Gokyo Valley, which has long been popular
with Western
trekkers who do not seek high altitude climbing. The valley
is about 12 miles
southwest of Everest and 170 miles from Kathmandu. The pilot
Sherpa said the
evacuated trekkers were all unhurt. Their nationalities were
not immediately
known.
Mon Nov 13 15:26:39 1995
Message : #34680727 From: Matthew Freedman
Address : mattf@cac.washington.edu
Group : Usenet.rec.backcountry
Subject : Snow Deaths in Nepal
Org. : University of Washington
I don't know about the rest of the world, but this story is
getting
almost no coverage in the US. At least 25 Nepalis and 17
foreign
trekkers dead, in what is supposed to be the best, safest
weather of
the year. I hope we get some first-hand stories of this
weekend when
people who are out there now make it back to the net...
Subject: Avalanche kills 26 including 13 Japanese in sleep
Date: Sat, 11 Nov 1995 11:20:01 PST
KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuter) - A huge avalanche struck the
overnight camp of a Japanese trekking group in the Mount
Everest
region of Nepal Saturday, killing 26 people including 13
Japanese as they slept, rescue and hiking officials said.
The wave of snow buried 11 guides and porters, as well as
two residents of the Pangka region near Everest, the world's
highest peak, Takashi Miyahara, chairman of Trans Himalayan
Treks, told Reuters in the Nepali capital Kathmandu.
It was believed to be the biggest avalanche disaster to hit
a trekking or mountaineering expedition in Nepal, where
majestic
peaks and pristine valleys attract about 65,000 foreign
hikers
and climbers every year.
In Nepal's worst mountaineering accident, 14 mountaineers,
mostly Koreans, were killed over two days in 1972 by
avalanches
on Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth highest peak at 26,775
feet.
In the latest disaster, 19 people including 15 foreigners
were evacuated from the area after the avalanche swept over
the
camp at 1 a.m. Saturday local time, 4 p.m. EST Friday, an
official of Trans Himalayan Treks, which organized the trek,
said.
The rescue helicopter ferried them to Syangboche district.
Helicopter pilot Tashi Sherpa told Reuters after returning
from a search mission that only the rooftops of houses could
be
seen and the bodies were buried under snow.
"It is confirmed that they are dead" he said.
Miyahara, who accompanied the rescue team to the site, said
three lodges were buried under snow.Triggered by a huge
cyclone in the Bay
of Bengal, some six feet of snow fell in the mountainous
region this week,
apparently catching the trekkers off guard.
The trekking party, which included local Sherpa guides and
porters, was returning from Gokyo Valley, which has long been
popular with Western trekkers who do not seek high altitude
climbing. The valley is about 12 miles southwest of Everest
and
170 miles from Kathmandu.
In India's worst avalanche disaster, at least 60 people died
last January in Jammu and Kashmir state in the western
sector of
the Himalayan range. In 1992, avalanches tore into 12
villages in blizzard
swept southeastern Turkey, killing 57 people including eight
children.
Subject: Nepal storm toll rises to 43, rescuers hunt bodies
Date: Sun, 12 Nov 1995 1:40:05 PST
KATHMANDU, Nov 12 (Reuter) - Building collapses caused by
heavy rains in Nepal claimed 17 lives on Sunday, raising to
43
the number of avalanche-related deaths in the Himalayan
region
in two days, officials said.
On Saturday, an avalanche killed 26 people, including 13
Japanese. Rescuers armed with special digging equipment
rushed to a
remote region near the 8,848-metre (29,028 feet) high Mount
Everest to look for the bodies of the Japanese trekkers
buried
in two metres (yards) of deep snow, tourism officials said.
"Our rescue helicopter should be reaching the accident site
in the morning," Pawan Rana of Trans-Himalayan Trekking,
which
organised the expedition, told Reuters. Some officials from
a Japanese
trekking agency were also in the team, he said.
Seventeen people were killed in the Himalayan kingdom on
Sunday when earth loosened by continuous rains buried houses
and
trekkers' lodges in Manang and Panchathar districts, the Home
(Interior) Ministry said. Among the dead was a Canadian
identified as Alan
Sordi. No other details were available.The three other
foreigners, including
a woman, were not immediately identified.
A Home Ministry spokesman said the four were among eight
people killed when landslides buried eight houses and three
trekkers' lodges in mid-west Nepal's Manang district.
Some 50 foreign trekkers were stranded elsewhere in the
mountainous nation, the daily Kantipur newspaper reported.
The unexpected rains on Friday and Saturday, believed to be
linked to
cyclonic weather in the Bay of Bengal, caused temperatures
to plummet.
The Japanese, their Nepali Sherpa guides and porters were
buried in the snow as they rested in an overnight camp at
Pangka, some 275 km (170 miles) northeast of Kathmandu at
around
1 a.m. on Saturday (1900 GMT on Friday. Nineteen others were
rescued by
helicopters.
Saturday's incident was believed to be the biggest avalanche
disaster to strike a trekking or mountaineering expedition in
Nepal, whose towering peaks and pristine valleys attract
about
65,000 foreign hikers each year. The Japanese trekkers were
making their way
to the popular trekking destination of Gokyo Valley in the
region of the
world's tallest peak. The valley is some 18 km (12 miles)
southwest of Everest.
In 1972, 14 mountaineerers, mostly Koreans, were killed over
by avalanches on Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth highest
peak
at 8,163 metres (26,775 feet) high.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuter) - A teenage boy given up for dead
in an avalanche survived a 24-hour ordeal and was pulled from
deep snow Sunday, safe except for frostbite, Nepali rescue
officials said.
The rescue of 17-year-old Deepak Nepali against all the odds
made the death toll in weekend avalanches in the Himalayan
kingdom 42, down from an earlier announced 43. A total of 17
foreigners are
known to have died -- 13 Japanese trekkers killed by
Saturday's avalanche and
an Irish woman, two Canadians and a German buried in a
landslide.
Rescuers Sunday helped some 115 foreign trekkers from a
snow-ravaged valley near Mount Everest, the world's tallest
mountain. "Some of the rescued were in shoulder-deep snow,"
said
Bikash J.B. Rana, a Nepal Airways helicopter pilot who took
part. "Most are suffering from snow blindness, frostbite and
hunger,: Rana said. "Many of them would have died had
rescuers
not reached them today."
The avalanche in which the 13 Japanese died Saturday was
also believed to have killed 13 Nepalis. But Deepak managed
to
survive by perching between two rocks in four-foot deep snow,
rescue officials said.
The Japanese, their Sherpa guides and porters were buried in
the snow as they slept in a camp at Pangka, some 170 miles
northeast of Kathmandu about 1 a.m. Saturday. The Japanese
were trekking
their way to the Gokyo Valley,the popular hiking area 12
miles southwest
of Everest.
Another 17 people were killed when landslides caused by
continuous rains crushed houses and trekkers' lodges in
Manang
and Panchathar districts. The four foreigners who died in
Manang district
in mid-western Nepal were a Canadian named Alan Sordi,
another
Canadian, an unidentified German and an Irish women named
only
as Mary Josephine, the Home (Interior) Ministry said.
Tourism officials said there could be up to 500 foreigners
in the Everest region. More trekkers may have been stranded
in
Taplejung district, east of Everest, rescue officials said.
Rescuers armed with special digging equipment rushed to a
remote region near the 29,028 foot peak.The bodies of five
Japanese and
three Nepalis were pulled out, but rescue work was hampered
by diffficult
conditions. Food packets, medicines and clothes were dropped
from
helicopters in the Gokyo Valley area.
Saturday's avalanche was the worst disaster to strike a
trekking or mountaineering expedition in Nepal, whose
towering
peaks and pristine valleys attract about 65,000 foreign
hikers
and climbers each year.
Subject: Rescue resumes for survivors of Nepal disaster
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 4:40:06 PST
KATHMANDU, Nov 13 (Reuter) - Rescuers resumed their search
on Monday for survivors of one of Nepal's worst avalanche
disasters which killed at least 42 people including 12
Japanese
buried in their sleep near Mount Everest, officials said.
Bad weather and poor visibility stalled rescue operations on
Monday, and officials said they did not know how many of an
estimated 500 foreign trekkers were trapped in the mountains
by
freezing cold weather, deep snow and avalanches.
A helicopter and small airplane finally left late in the
morning for the remote region near Everest where 25 trekkers,
including 13 Japanese, were buried in an avalanche on
Saturday.
Seventeen others including four Westerners, an Irish woman,
two Canadians and a German, perished as houses collapsed
elsewhere in Nepal.
Before rescue operations were interrupted, workers armed
with special digging equipment had ferried more than a
hundred
foreign trekkers to safety with the help of helicopters.
By Monday afternoon rescuers had recovered 21 bodies
including the remains of 12 Japanese hikers, trekking agency
officials said.
Rameshwar Lal Shrestna of Trans-Himalayan Trekkers said six
of the 12 Japanese victims whose bodies were found had been
identified. "We have already informed the families of these
victims in
Japan and they are coming to receive the bodies," he said.
He gave their names as Iwao Oki, Hiroshi Tanabe, Mieko Ishi,
Cichi Yamade, Ikuo Irizawa and Takayuki Nakamura.
The Japanese trekkers as well as 13 Nepali guides and
porters were buried in the snow as they rested in an
overnight
camp at Pangka, some 275 km (170 miles) northeast of
Kathmandu,
at around 1 a.m. on Saturday (1900 GMT on Friday).
The Japanese hikers were making their way to the popular
trekking destination of Gokyo Valley in the region of the
8,848-metre (29,028 feet) high peak. The valley is some 18 km
(12 miles) southwest of Everest. A 17-year-old Nepali,
perched between two
rocks, was pulledout alive on Sunday from the deep snow,
unharmed except for
frost bite.
The victims' bodies were being kept at Pangka until coffins
arrive from the Nepali capital Kathmandu, Shrestna said. The
bodies were not expected in Kathmandu until Tuesday.
Foreign trekkers who were rescued from the Gokyo, Na and
Mera peak areas in the same region as Pangka were being
lodged
in Namche or Syangboche, gateways to the world's highest
peak.
They were not expected to be ferried to Kathmandu until
rescuers finished evacuating stranded trekkers.
Saturday's incident was believed to be the biggest avalanche
disaster to strike a trekking or mountaineering expedition in
Nepal, whose towering peaks and deep valleys attract some
65,000
foreign hikers each year. November is the peak season for
foreign trekkers.
But a huge cyclone in the Bay of Bengal last week provoked
unusually heavy
snowfall, catching many trekkers and their guides off guard.
Stan Armington of Malla Treks in Kathmandu said 500 to 1,000
foreigners come
to the Himalayan kingdom every year to climb peaks, while
more than
60,000 more visitors are trekkers.
From: mattf@cac.washington.edu (Matthew Freedman)
Newsgroups:
rec.travel.asia,rec.backcountry,rec.climbing,soc.culture.nepal
Subject: Re: Snow Deaths in Nepal
Date: 14 Nov 1995 17:46:30 GMT
Organization: University of Washington
Here are some more news reports, more details are starting
to come in.
The ones at the end are newest. Most of these are from
Reuters,and two from
the Kathmandu Post, which I just found out is on the net,at
http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~rshresth/ktmpost/news-home.html.
One report says seven lodges were buried in a landslide at
Bagarchap. Anybody
who has done the Annapurna circuit has passed through this
village. It is/was
perched on the edge of a large cliff,in a very very steep
valley. It is the
first "Tibetan-style" villageon the circuit (going
counter-clockwise).I have
added rec.climbing and soc.culture.nepal to the
Newsgroupslist, since there
is discussion of this tragedy in both these groupsas well.
-- Matt ----------------
Subject: Trekkers evacuated after Nepal avalanche disaster
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 9:20:08 PST
KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuter) - Rescuers evacuated over 230
people, nearly half
of them foreign trekkers inlcuding 12 Americans, trapped in
the Himalayas
after one of Nepal's worst avalanche disasters near Mount
Everest, officials
said Monday. The helicopter rescue operation followed
avalanches that killed
at least 42 people. Seventeen others, including four
Westerners -- two
Canadians, an Irish woman and a German -- perished as houses
collapsed
elsewhere in Nepal.
Eight helicopters carried out the rescues and a total of 237
people,
including 111 foreigners, were taken to safety, a Nepali
government spokesman
said. Bad weather and poor visibility hampered rescuers and
officials said
they did not know how many of an estimated 500 foreign
trekkers were trapped
in the mountains by freezing cold weather, deep snow and
avalanches.
November is the peak season for foreign trekkers. But a huge
cyclone in the
Bay of Bengal last week provoked unusually heavy snowfall,
catching many
trekkers and their guides off guard.
The helicopters ferried survivors from the Gokyo valley near
Everest, the
world's highest peak, Manang in mid-west Nepal and Langtang
in central Nepal,
government spokesman Prachanda Man Shrestha said. The rescue
team evacuated
12 Americans, nine Britons, 10 Japanese, nine Australians
and two Germans, he
said. Seven Japanese, including the country's ambassador to
Nepal, Shigenobu
Yoshida, were rescued and brought to Kathmandu from the
Langtang area,
Shreshta said. Yoshida was visiting Langtang region to
inspect a small project
launched with Japanese assistance.
Nine American nationals along with seven Britons were
rescued from the
Hongku in the Everest region, east of Gokyo valley where 13
Japanese were
buried in an avalanche on Saturday. The other three
Americans were evacuated
from the Gokyo valley, the spokesman said.
By Monday afternoon rescuers had recovered 21 bodies
including the remains of
12 Japanese hikers, trekking agency officials said.Hitoshi
Motoyoshi, a
Japanese climber coordinating with the Trans-Himalayan
Trekkers said Nepali
guides and rescue workers were using shovels to clear the
snow to search for
the body of the remaining Japanese victim.The Japanese
trekkers, as well as
13 Nepali guides and porters, were buried in the snow as
they rested at an
overnight camp at Pangka, some 170 miles northeast of
Kathmandu, at around
1 a.m. Saturday (2 P.M EDT Friday).
The Japanese hikers were making their way to the popular
trekking
destination of Gokyo Valley in the region of the 29,028 feet
high peak. The
valley is some 12 miles southwest of Everest. The victims'
bodies were being
kept at Pangka until coffins arrive from the Nepali capital
Kathmandu,
Shrestna said. The bodies were not expected in Kathmandu
until Tuesday.
Foreign trekkers who were rescued from the Gokyo, Na and
Mera peak areas in
the same region as Pangka were being lodged in Namche or
Syangboche, gateways
to Everest. They were not expected to be ferried to
Kathmandu until rescuers
finished evacuating stranded trekkers.
Nepal's towering peaks and deep valleys attract some 65,000
foreign hikers
each year.
---- 29 Bodies Recovered In Khumbu, Manang ;Rescue Works
Continue,
85 Airlifted To Safety ;By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, Nov 12
- Rescuers have so far recovered 10 bodies of Japanese
trekkers and 8 bodies
of Sherpas buried in an avalanche in the Gokyo area in
Khumbu region on Sunday.
One Nepalese guide was reportedly found alive while three
Japanese trekkers
are still missing. Rescue team has airlifted 85 persons to
safety from the
Gokyo area, officialstold The Kathmandu Post Sunday.
Officials said rescuers
were also trying to airlift about 25 trekkers in the Manang
region which was
also struck by a landslide Friday following two days of
torrential rains.
So far 33 persons, including 22 foreign tourists, have been
reported dead by
the avalanche and landslide and officials fear the figure
could mount as the
operation continues. Meanwhile tour operators say, more than
50 trekkers were
in the Gokyo area whenthe avalanche hit at around 1 PM
Saturday. There could
be more tourists in the area since other tour operators also
handle trekking
tours in the region, saida Trans Himalayan Tours official.
His agency was
handling 13 Japanese tourists and all of them are feared
dead.
In Manang, Bagaarchaap, search team has found all 11 bodies
of tourists swept
away by the landslide. Four bodies of European trekkers were
airlifted to the
capital on Sunday. According to police the dead include a
Canadian and a
woman from Ireland. The nationalities of the other
foreigners is yet to be
established.Of the eight Nepali villagers reported missing
in the area, the
bodies of seven have been recovered. We fear that there
could be more
casualties, since local lodge owners say most of the lodgers
have gone
missing, Palden Gurung, the MP for Manang said shortly after
arriving from
his constituency. Gurung estimated the damage in Manang to
be worth around
Rs 20 million. The landslide also swept away 17 houses in
the area.
The tragedy which struck the nations Himalayan region is
considered the worst
ever. Last year 13 climbers lost their lives on the slopes
of Mt. Pisang in
Dhaulagiri zone.In the aftermath of the tragedy, a rescue
task force has been
formed here inthe capital comprising the Tourism Ministry,
Himalayan Rescue
Association, Trekking Agents Association Nepal, Nepal
Mountaineering Institute
and the Nepal Police. Royal Nepal Army is also conducting
rescue helicopter
flights in boththe areas. Rescue flights are being operated
along Hinku
valley, Makalu Barun area, Kanchanjunga, Ghunsa and Everest
regions in the
east and along Gorkha, Manaslu,Larkela Pass and Thorongla
Pass in the west.
In places where helicopters havebeen unable to land due to
heavy snow,
rations and first aid equipment have been dropped where
people have been
sighted. Snow in the Gokyo region is 3.5metres deep.As the
rescue operations
continue, new information has emerged that suggests the
lives might have been
saved had the tour operators asked for a special weather
forecast from the
Department of Meteorology, and had the department foreseen
the foul weather
that was to hit Gokyo area. The Department puts out a
special weather
bulletin only on request, and department officials said tour
operators
sometimes ask for such bulletins. They did not request this
time, an official
said. However, even if such a request had been placed, it
would not have been
of any help. According to an official in the Department, his
agency had not
foreseen any foul weather in the Himalayas that day. That is
surprising, say
observers, who point out that most of South Asia was
experiencing the effects
of a cyclone which hit the Bay of Bengal around that time.
Subject: 12 Americans
Rescued in NepalDate: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 20:30:15 PST
KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- Twelve Americans were rescued Monday
from a
mountainous region that was the scene of Nepal's deadliest
avalanche in four
decades. Twenty-two people were confirmed dead and three
were missing.
The avalanche struck eastern Nepal near Mt. Everest on
Friday night,
engulfing three lodges where 26 people were staying -- 13
Japanese, their 11
Nepalese guides and the two Nepalese lodge owners. One
Nepalese guide
survived.
The Trans-Himalayan Trekking Co., which organized the
expedition, said that
on Monday, the bodies of two Japanese and one Nepalese were
recovered. The
bodies of 19 other victims were found over the weekend.
One Japanese and two Nepalese are still missing, the company
said.
The avalanche caused Nepal's highest one-day death toll
since the country
opened to tourists in the 1950s. Twelve Americans trapped in
the same area by
heavy snow were rescued by government helicopters near
Panga, a village in a
valley on the southern face of Everest. Panga is at an
altitude of
15,810 feet. Their identities were not immediately known.
Another American
walked out on his own. "We were trapped for two days in
heavy snow. It was
difficult to come out. It took 12 hours instead of three
hours," said Itsuro
Motoyama, 55, of Pittsburgh. He spoke from Katmandu, where
he arrived Monday.
On Sunday, 85 trekkers were rescued by helicopter from the
Panga area, many
of them foreigners. Their names and nationalities were not
immediately
available.
In western Nepal, 11 people were killed Friday night in a
landslide that
swept away homes and lodges in the village of Bagarchap. The
dead included
two Canadians, a German and an Irish woman.The landslide was
caused by rain
from the same storm that caused the deadly avalanche.
Last year, 13 German climbers and their Nepalese guides died
while they were
climbing in the Himalayas, apparently when their rope
snapped.
--- Subject: Nepal death
toll rises to 49 as seven bodies found
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 1995 2:20:23 PST
KATHMANDU, Nov 14 (Reuter) - Rescuers in helicopters found
seven bodies,
including those of three Japanese trekkers, buried in snow
on Tuesday,
raising the death toll in one of Nepal's worst avalanche
disasters to 49,
officials said. The bodies of four Nepali nationals were
found with the three
dead Japanese near Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest
mountain some 500
km (300 miles) east of the Himalayan kingdom's capital
Kathmandu.
The victims, whose bodies were airlifted to nearby Kansu
village, were not
identified. Rescuers continued to search on Tuesday for
hundreds of foreign
trekkers stranded in the Himalayan mountains by heavy
snowfall.
Altogether 42 people, including 17 foreigners, died over the
weekend after a
freak storm dumped two metres (six feet) of snow. A huge
avalanche buried 25
people, including 13 Japanese, near Mount Everest. Seventeen
others,
including four foreigners, died as houses collapsed
elsewhere in Nepal.
Two of the four foreigners killed in a landslide that buried
17 houses
including seven tourist lodges in Manang region were
identified on Tuesday as
Mary Josephine Harkin of Ireland and Armen Sehleicher of
Germany. The bodies
of the two others were being kept at the German embassy in
Kathmandu. Three
foreigners whose back packs were found in Manang were
reported missing
-- Canadian Mitchell Karper, German Gernot Selber Mayer and
Briton Nicholas
Ellman.
By midday on Tuesday, helicopters had plucked 477 people
including 178
foreigners from the snows, mostly from the Everest region
which was the
hardest hit area. The names of those who were evacuated were
not available.
"This is the first time that such a large trekking area has
been hit by
disaster," government spokesman Prachanda Man Shrestha said.
Officials said hundreds, perhaps thousands, of foreign
trekkers had set out
on hiking expeditions across the Himalayan kingdom before
the freak snow
storm, churned up by a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, hit the
region.
November is the peak season for trekkers. Some 9,000
foreigners registered in
the three weeks to November 8 for trekking expeditions in
seven locations.
About 2,700 said they planned to go to the Everest region,
while 3,200 were
headed to Annapurna area and another 300 to the Kanchenjunga
region.
Officials said they did not know exactly how many trekkers,
guides and
porters had been trapped in the mountains by freezing cold
weather, deep snow
and avalanches.
On Monday helicopters ferried survivors from the Gokyo
valley in the Everest
region, Manang in mid-west Nepal and Langtang in central
Nepal, Shrestha said.
By Monday rescuers had evacuated 12 Americans, 10 Japanese,
nine Britons,
nine Australians and two Germans, he said. Seven Japanese,
including the
ambassador to Nepal, Shigenobu Yoshida, were rescued and
brought to Kathmandu
from the Langtang area. Yoshida was visiting Langtang region
to inspect a
small project launched with Japanese assistance. The nine
U.S. nationals
along with seven Britons were rescued from the Hongku in the
Everest region,
east of Gokyo Valley where 13 Japanese were buried in an
avalanche.
Khumbu Tragedy: 25 More Bodies Recovered By a Post ReporterKATHMANDU, Nov 13
- Rescuers
have recoverd the bodies of 12 Japanese trekkersand 13 Nepali
Sherpas buried in an avalanche in Gokyo in the Khumbu region
Sunday.Seven
helicopters operating rescue flights over the last two days
have airlifted
128 persons, including 56 foreigners and 72 Nepalis to
safety in Syangboche
and Lukla.Sixteen foreigners, including nine Americans and
seven British
nationals, and 32 Nepalis were transported to safety from
Hinku Valley to
Lukla. Thirty-six persons, including two British, one Scot,
four Australian,
two Dutch, two New Zealand,two Japanese, two French, three
American, one
Canadian and one Norwegian national have been airlifted from
Gokyo to
Syangboche.
Rescue flights transported 30 persons - 20 Nepalis, one
Japanese and nine
Australians from Gokyo to Lukla. Two German nationals have
been airlifted
from AmaDablam Base camp. None of the airlifted persons have
suffered
injuries, informed an official of the rescue task force set
up in the capital.
People were crawling in the snow. I could see hands waving
from the snow
-covered huts, a pilot returning from a flight in the Hinku
region said.
More than 50 trekkers, including a group of 25 Italian
trekkers were
reportedly in the Gokyo region when the avalanche struck
around 1 am Saturday,
making officials fear that the death toll could mount. No
one is certain of
the numberof trekkers in the area. No bodies will be brought
to the capital
before the rescue mission is complete, an official said.
