Five South Koreans and four Nepali guides on a Himalayan climbing expedition were flung to their deaths after a huge block of ice crashed over a cliff into a narrow mountain gorge, a helicopter rescue official said on Monday.
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Five South Koreans and four Nepali guides on a Himalayan climbing expedition were flung to their deaths after a huge block of ice crashed over a cliff into a narrow mountain gorge, a helicopter rescue official said on Monday.
It was Nepal’s worst such disaster since 2015, when 18 climbers were killed in an avalanche triggered by a massive earthquake at the base of Mount Everest.
The team attempting Mount Gurja, a 7,193 metre-high (23,600-foot) peak, was led by Kim Chang-ho, a veteran of the sport who had set speed records on 14 of the world’s highest mountains.
The accident appeared to have happened on Thursday or Friday, said Suraj Paudyal, a rescue official with the private helicopter company that was involved in retrieving the bodies, which were scattered over a wide area in the mountains.
“Some bodies were by the side of a cliff, while others lay in the ravine,” said Paudyal, one of the first to arrive at the site, adding that it was reached only by dropping a 100-metre (330-foot) -long line (rope) and harnesses from the helicopter.
