Nepal finds five climbers' bodies after avalanche

Rescuers in Nepal have found the bodies of five climbers who had been missing since an avalanche in November 2025 near the Chinese border, a local government official said Saturday.

Biswash Karki, chairman of Gaurishankar Rural Municipality, said the bodies were discovered on Aug. 6. He said the dead were three foreigners — an Italian-Canadian, a German and an Italian — and two Nepalis.

The avalanche hit the climbers on the lower slopes of Yalung Ri, a 5,630-metre peak near Nepal's border with Tibet. Karki said army, police and local rescue teams had searched for them, but thick snow had covered the bodies.

Senior local police officer Manoj Kumar Lama said a rescue helicopter was sent to the area on Aug. 7, but bad weather had kept the team from reaching the site. He said the bodies would be airlifted once the weather clears.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest, and receives hundreds of climbers and trekkers each year. The Himalayan Database says more than 1,000 people have died on Himalayan peaks since 1950, with avalanches causing almost a third of those deaths.