Sunday Times 2
Stranded trekkers in storm-hit region safe: Nepal official
View(s):KATHMANDU, Oct 18 (AFP) – All trekkers left stranded by a major snowstorm in Nepal’s Himalayas are safe, officials said today, with the focus now shifting to the recovery of bodies four days after the disaster killed at least 32 people.
Nepalese army choppers circled the upper reaches of the popular Annapurna Circuit trekking region to locate bodies, while officials flew in a team of experts from Kathmandu to assist with retrieval.
Tuesday’s unseasonal storm, which hit at the height of the trekking season triggering avalanches, caught hikers unaware on their way up to an exposed high mountain pass, and killed at least 17 tourists.
A survivor injured in a snowstorm is carried on a stretcher by Nepal Army personnel to an army helicopter (AFP)