KATHMANDU, Nepal, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- At least 12 people were killed in a major snowstorm that struck Nepal's 18,000-foot-high Thorong La pass in the Himalayas on Tuesday.
The Himalayan Rescue Association estimated there were more than 100 tourists on the mountain pass at the time of the snowstorm.
Despite rescue attempts, authorities were unable to account for 70 to 80 registered tourists, said Govinda Pathak, a senior police officer in northern Nepal's Mustang district.
"We recovered 12 more bodies, out of which eight are Nepalis, one Vietnamese, two Israeli and one Polish," Mustang district chief officer Baburam Bhandari reported. Those rescued alive, he said, includes five Germans, four Israelis, one Nepali and four Polish citizens.
Cyclone Hudhud in neighboring India has been partly blamed for severe weather this week in Nepal.
