Kathmandu: Four climbers, including a Spanish and a Japanese, have been missing after an avalanche hit Mt. Dhaulagiri in Nepal.
Two foreign climbers, a Spanish and a Japanese, and three Nepalese mountain guides, were hit by an avalanche at Camp Four situated at 8,000 metre elevation of Mt. Dhaulagiri in Nepal Himalayas on May 24, according to officials at Tourism Ministry of Nepal.
A high-altitude guide Keshav Gurung has been rescued from the site of the accident and brought to Pokhara from the mountain, the officials said, adding that the condition of the remaining climbers is not yet known, they said.
Helicopters have been mobilised to carry out rescue operations in the surrounding area.
However, no further progress could be made so far in locating the four climbers till afternoon today.
There were two expeditions consisting of a total of 21 climbers during the time of the accident at the Camp Four on Mt. Dhaulagiri. However, other climbers were safe.
Dhaulagiri, with the elevation of 8,167 metres, is the seventh highest peak in the world.
Nepal is observing the 60th anniversary of the first human ascent to the Mt. Everest (8,848 metres) on May 29, with Everest heroes, government officials and tourism entrepreneurs from across the globe invited to a gala function here that coincides with the sixth Republic day of the country with a view to promoting mountain tourism.
Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Sherpa, a Nepalese mountain guide, who later switched to Indian citizenship, had made history on May 29, 1953 by scaling the Everest.
PTI
