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Nepal avalanche: 4 South Koreans, 3 Nepali guides among 7 missing

Seven are missing after an avalanche Friday near the Annapurna base camp in Nepal. Photo by Samdesherpa/Wikimedia
Seven are missing after an avalanche Friday near the Annapurna base camp in Nepal. Photo by Samdesherpa/Wikimedia

Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A tourism official said Saturday that four South Koreans and three Nepali tour guides are among seven people missing after an avalanche hit their trail on a Himalayan mountain in northwest Nepal.

The avalanche struck Friday near a base camp in the Annapurna region at an altitude of 10,600 feet, about 93 miles northwest of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, after heavy snowfall, officials said.

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"We are getting reports that four South Koreans and three Nepalis are out of contact after the incident happened in Annapurna base came trek route," Mira Dhakal of Nepal's tourism department said Saturday. "A rescue team was dispatched last night."

The four missing South Koreans include two women in their 30s and 50s and two men in their 50s who were staying in Nepal as volunteer teachers, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said five other South Korean members of the same team were safe and taking shelter in a lodge.

Nepali police were moving to a site on foot Saturday morning and a helicopter is on standby to transfer survivors to Pokhara.

Bad weather conditions have hampered the use of helicopters in the search, according to the ministry.

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