*** 26 Trekkers Die in Avalanches near Everest *** From: "Ann and Cameron." Newsgroups: rec.climbing Subject: The Avalanche In Nepal Date: 13 Nov 1995 06:08:48 GMT Organization: RoFIntUG To:All From: Cam BurnsThis was in Reuters' New wire service on Saturday, Nov. 11 KATHMANDU (Reuter) - A huge avalanche struck the overnight camp of a Japanese trekking group in the Mount Everest region of Nepal Saturday, killing 26 people, including 13 Japanese, as they slept, rescue and hiking officials said. The wave of snow buried 11 guides and porters, as well as two residents of the Pangka region near Everest, the world's highest peak, Takashi Miyahara, chairman of Trans Himalayan Treks, told Reuters in the Nepali capital Kathmandu. It was believed to be the biggest avalanche disaster to hit a trekking or mountaineering expedition in Nepal, where majestic peaks and pristine valleys attract about 65,000 foreign hikers and climbers every year. In Nepal's worst mountaineering accident, 14 mountaineers, mostly Koreans, were killed over two days in 1972 by avalanches on Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth highest peak at 26,775 feet. In the latest disaster, 19 people, including 15 foreigners, were evacuated from the area after the avalanche swept over the camp at 1 a.m., an official of Trans Himalayan Treks, which organized the trek, said. The rescue helicopter ferried them to Syangboche district. Helicopter pilot Tashi Sherpa told Reuters after returning from a search mission that only the rooftops of houses could be seen and the bodies were buried under snow. "It is confirmed that they are dead," he said. Miyahara, who accompanied the rescue team to the site, said three lodges were buried under snow. Triggered by a huge cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, some six feet of snow fell in the mountainous region this week, apparently catching the trekkers off guard. The trekking party, which included local Sherpa guides and porters, was returning from Gokyo Valley, which has long been popular with Western trekkers who do not seek high altitude climbing. The valley is about 12 miles southwest of Everest and 170 miles from Kathmandu. The pilot Sherpa said the evacuated trekkers were all unhurt. Their nationalities were not immediately known. Mon Nov 13 15:26:39 1995 Message : #34680727 From: Matthew Freedman Address : mattf@cac.washington.edu Group : Usenet.rec.backcountry Subject : Snow Deaths in Nepal Read 1 times Org. : University of Washington I don't know about the rest of the world, but this story is getting almost no coverage in the US. At least 25 Nepalis and 17 foreign trekkers dead, in what is supposed to be the best, safest weather of the year. I hope we get some first-hand stories of this weekend when people who are out there now make it back to the net... Subject: Avalanche kills 26 including 13 Japanese in sleep Date: Sat, 11 Nov 1995 11:20:01 PST KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuter) - A huge avalanche struck the overnight camp of a Japanese trekking group in the Mount Everest region of Nepal Saturday, killing 26 people including 13 Japanese as they slept, rescue and hiking officials said. The wave of snow buried 11 guides and porters, as well as two residents of the Pangka region near Everest, the world's highest peak, Takashi Miyahara, chairman of Trans Himalayan Treks, told Reuters in the Nepali capital Kathmandu. It was believed to be the biggest avalanche disaster to hit a trekking or mountaineering expedition in Nepal, where majestic peaks and pristine valleys attract about 65,000 foreign hikers and climbers every year. In Nepal's worst mountaineering accident, 14 mountaineers, mostly Koreans, were killed over two days in 1972 by avalanches on Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth highest peak at 26,775 feet. In the latest disaster, 19 people including 15 foreigners were evacuated from the area after the avalanche swept over the camp at 1 a.m. Saturday local time, 4 p.m. EST Friday, an official of Trans Himalayan Treks, which organized the trek, said. The rescue helicopter ferried them to Syangboche district. Helicopter pilot Tashi Sherpa told Reuters after returning from a search mission that only the rooftops of houses could be seen and the bodies were buried under snow. "It is confirmed that they are dead" he said. Miyahara, who accompanied the rescue team to the site, said three lodges were buried under snow.Triggered by a huge cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, some six feet of snow fell in the mountainous region this week, apparently catching the trekkers off guard. The trekking party, which included local Sherpa guides and porters, was returning from Gokyo Valley, which has long been popular with Western trekkers who do not seek high altitude climbing. The valley is about 12 miles southwest of Everest and 170 miles from Kathmandu. In India's worst avalanche disaster, at least 60 people died last January in Jammu and Kashmir state in the western sector of the Himalayan range. In 1992, avalanches tore into 12 villages in blizzard swept southeastern Turkey, killing 57 people including eight children. Subject: Nepal storm toll rises to 43, rescuers hunt bodies Date: Sun, 12 Nov 1995 1:40:05 PST KATHMANDU, Nov 12 (Reuter) - Building collapses caused by heavy rains in Nepal claimed 17 lives on Sunday, raising to 43 the number of avalanche-related deaths in the Himalayan region in two days, officials said. On Saturday, an avalanche killed 26 people, including 13 Japanese. Rescuers armed with special digging equipment rushed to a remote region near the 8,848-metre (29,028 feet) high Mount Everest to look for the bodies of the Japanese trekkers buried in two metres (yards) of deep snow, tourism officials said. ``Our rescue helicopter should be reaching the accident site in the morning,'' Pawan Rana of Trans-Himalayan Trekking, which organised the expedition, told Reuters. Some officials from a Japanese trekking agency were also in the team, he said. Seventeen people were killed in the Himalayan kingdom on Sunday when earth loosened by continuous rains buried houses and trekkers' lodges in Manang and Panchathar districts, the Home (Interior) Ministry said. Among the dead was a Canadian identified as Alan Sordi. No other details were available.The three other foreigners, including a woman, were not immediately identified. A Home Ministry spokesman said the four were among eight people killed when landslides buried eight houses and three trekkers' lodges in mid-west Nepal's Manang district. Some 50 foreign trekkers were stranded elsewhere in the mountainous nation, the daily Kantipur newspaper reported. The unexpected rains on Friday and Saturday, believed to be linked to cyclonic weather in the Bay of Bengal, caused temperatures to plummet. The Japanese, their Nepali Sherpa guides and porters were buried in the snow as they rested in an overnight camp at Pangka, some 275 km (170 miles) northeast of Kathmandu at around 1 a.m. on Saturday (1900 GMT on Friday. Nineteen others were rescued by helicopters. Saturday's incident was believed to be the biggest avalanche disaster to strike a trekking or mountaineering expedition in Nepal, whose towering peaks and pristine valleys attract about 65,000 foreign hikers each year. The Japanese trekkers were making their way to the popular trekking destination of Gokyo Valley in the region of the world's tallest peak. The valley is some 18 km (12 miles) southwest of Everest. In 1972, 14 mountaineerers, mostly Koreans, were killed over by avalanches on Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth highest peak at 8,163 metres (26,775 feet) high. Subject: Nepal rescuers find miraculous survivor, toll 42 Date: Sun, 12 Nov 1995 8:50:07 PST KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuter) - A teenage boy given up for dead in an avalanche survived a 24-hour ordeal and was pulled from deep snow Sunday, safe except for frostbite, Nepali rescue officials said. The rescue of 17-year-old Deepak Nepali against all the odds made the death toll in weekend avalanches in the Himalayan kingdom 42, down from an earlier announced 43. A total of 17 foreigners are known to have died -- 13 Japanese trekkers killed by Saturday's avalanche and an Irish woman, two Canadians and a German buried in a landslide. Rescuers Sunday helped some 115 foreign trekkers from a snow-ravaged valley near Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain. "Some of the rescued were in shoulder-deep snow," said Bikash J.B. Rana, a Nepal Airways helicopter pilot who took part. "Most are suffering from snow blindness, frostbite and hunger,: Rana said. "Many of them would have died had rescuers not reached them today." The avalanche in which the 13 Japanese died Saturday was also believed to have killed 13 Nepalis. But Deepak managed to survive by perching between two rocks in four-foot deep snow, rescue officials said. The Japanese, their Sherpa guides and porters were buried in the snow as they slept in a camp at Pangka, some 170 miles northeast of Kathmandu about 1 a.m. Saturday. The Japanese were trekking their way to the Gokyo Valley,the popular hiking area 12 miles southwest of Everest. Another 17 people were killed when landslides caused by continuous rains crushed houses and trekkers' lodges in Manang and Panchathar districts. The four foreigners who died in Manang district in mid-western Nepal were a Canadian named Alan Sordi, another Canadian, an unidentified German and an Irish women named only as Mary Josephine, the Home (Interior) Ministry said. Tourism officials said there could be up to 500 foreigners in the Everest region. More trekkers may have been stranded in Taplejung district, east of Everest, rescue officials said. Rescuers armed with special digging equipment rushed to a remote region near the 29,028 foot peak.The bodies of five Japanese and three Nepalis were pulled out, but rescue work was hampered by diffficult conditions. Food packets, medicines and clothes were dropped from helicopters in the Gokyo Valley area. Saturday's avalanche was the worst disaster to strike a trekking or mountaineering expedition in Nepal, whose towering peaks and pristine valleys attract about 65,000 foreign hikers and climbers each year. Subject: Rescue resumes for survivors of Nepal disaster Date: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 4:40:06 PST KATHMANDU, Nov 13 (Reuter) - Rescuers resumed their search on Monday for survivors of one of Nepal's worst avalanche disasters which killed at least 42 people including 12 Japanese buried in their sleep near Mount Everest, officials said. Bad weather and poor visibility stalled rescue operations on Monday, and officials said they did not know how many of an estimated 500 foreign trekkers were trapped in the mountains by freezing cold weather, deep snow and avalanches. A helicopter and small airplane finally left late in the morning for the remote region near Everest where 25 trekkers, including 13 Japanese, were buried in an avalanche on Saturday. Seventeen others including four Westerners, an Irish woman, two Canadians and a German, perished as houses collapsed elsewhere in Nepal. Before rescue operations were interrupted, workers armed with special digging equipment had ferried more than a hundred foreign trekkers to safety with the help of helicopters. By Monday afternoon rescuers had recovered 21 bodies including the remains of 12 Japanese hikers, trekking agency officials said. Rameshwar Lal Shrestna of Trans-Himalayan Trekkers said six of the 12 Japanese victims whose bodies were found had been identified. "We have already informed the families of these victims in Japan and they are coming to receive the bodies," he said. He gave their names as Iwao Oki, Hiroshi Tanabe, Mieko Ishi, Cichi Yamade, Ikuo Irizawa and Takayuki Nakamura. The Japanese trekkers as well as 13 Nepali guides and porters were buried in the snow as they rested in an overnight camp at Pangka, some 275 km (170 miles) northeast of Kathmandu, at around 1 a.m. on Saturday (1900 GMT on Friday). The Japanese hikers were making their way to the popular trekking destination of Gokyo Valley in the region of the 8,848-metre (29,028 feet) high peak. The valley is some 18 km (12 miles) southwest of Everest. A 17-year-old Nepali, perched between two rocks, was pulledout alive on Sunday from the deep snow, unharmed except for frost bite. The victims' bodies were being kept at Pangka until coffins arrive from the Nepali capital Kathmandu, Shrestna said. The bodies were not expected in Kathmandu until Tuesday. Foreign trekkers who were rescued from the Gokyo, Na and Mera peak areas in the same region as Pangka were being lodged in Namche or Syangboche, gateways to the world's highest peak. They were not expected to be ferried to Kathmandu until rescuers finished evacuating stranded trekkers. Saturday's incident was believed to be the biggest avalanche disaster to strike a trekking or mountaineering expedition in Nepal, whose towering peaks and deep valleys attract some 65,000 foreign hikers each year. November is the peak season for foreign trekkers. But a huge cyclone in the Bay of Bengal last week provoked unusually heavy snowfall, catching many trekkers and their guides off guard. Stan Armington of Malla Treks in Kathmandu said 500 to 1,000 foreigners come to the Himalayan kingdom every year to climb peaks, while more than 60,000 more visitors are trekkers. -------------------------------