Categories: Asia News

Annapurna Circuit death toll rises to 39 after four days of searches

The death toll of Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit has risen to 39 after days of searches, officials say.

Snowstorms and avalanches have killed the trekkers on one of the most popular hiking routes in the Himalayas.

After a fourth day of searches, 384 people have been rescued from the Annapurna trail, 216 of them foreigners, in the country’s worst-ever trekking disaster.

Helicopters have been searching parts of the trail high as 19,000ft for survivors.

The government said the priority was to rescue 22 stranded hikers.

The trekkers are stranded at Thorung La pass, and face a shortage of food and water. Army helicopters tried to rescue them but failed after being unable to land.

It is still unclear which climbers have been accounted for and which are still missing.

The task of the authorities is made more complicated because there are thousands of climbers in Nepal at this time of the year.

Army helicopters tried unsuccessfully to rescue them on October 18 between the Mustang and Dolpa districts, government rescue coordinator Suresh Acharya said.

The death toll of Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit has risen to 39 after days of searches

Twenty bodies have been recovered but 19 bodies are still in the snow and a rescue team will be deployed on October 19 to dig them out and retrieve them by air, he said.

One of the main trekking routes – the Thorung La pass, the high point of the Annapurna Circuit – is now “relatively safe” after the army cleared snow, he said earlier.

Rescuers have only limited resources and most of the missing and dead are believed to be at the maximum heights that helicopters can reach.

Nepalese, Japanese, Israeli, Canadian, Indian, Slovak, Vietnamese and Polish trekkers are said to be among the dead.

Many survivors have been left with severe frostbite and will have to have limbs amputated.

Nepal earns huge revenues from the tens of thousands of trekkers and climbers who flock to the Himalayas every year.

This has been a particularly deadly year for Nepal’s trekking and mountaineering industry.

An avalanche on Mount Everest in April killed 16 Sherpa guides and resulted in a significant drop in the number of expeditions to the world’s highest peak.

The latest disaster comes at the height of the trekking period.

Nancy Clayson

Nancy is a young, full of life lady who joined the team shortly after the BelleNews site started to run. She is focused on bringing up to light all the latest news from the technology industry. In her opinion the hi-tech expresses the humanity intellectual level. Nancy is an active person; she enjoys sports and delights herself in doing gardening in her spare time, as well as reading, always searching for new topics for her articles.

Recent Posts

Quincy Jones Dead at 91

Quincy Jones, the celebrated musician and producer who worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray…

9 hours ago

White House 2024: Voter Fraud Claims Flood Social Media

Misleading allegations, rumours and outright lies about voting and fraud are flooding online spaces in…

2 days ago

Spain: At Least 158 Killed In The Country’s Worst Flooding Disaster

At least 158 people have died in Spain's worst flooding disaster in generations. On October…

4 days ago

Russia Fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, Surpassing Global GDP

Google has been fined two undecillion (a two followed by 36 zeroes) roubles by a…

4 days ago

Financing Your Home Remodel: 7 Tips for Success

Embarking on a home remodel is an exciting journey, promising enhanced comfort, increased property value,…

2 weeks ago

Donald Trump Serves Up McDonald’s Fries While Kamala Harris Celebrates 60th Birthday with Church Choir

The US presidential candidates continued to campaign across key swing states on October 20. Footage…

2 weeks ago