KATHMANDU: A foreign climber and his Sherpa guide were found dead inside a tent at the high camp on Mt Manaslu this morning after hundreds of climbers retreated to base camp following adverse weather on the world’s eighth-highest mountain, officials said.

An Indian-German climber and his Sherpa guide, who were resting inside a tent at Camp 3, were found dead by other climbers, sources at base camp confirmed. The deceased have been identified as Fursemba Sherpa from Makalu and Dhruba Jyoti Guha from Germany.

Mohan Lamsal, managing director at Makalu Adventure, confirmed that Guha and Sherpa, who were inside a tent at Camp 3, were buried by an avalanche last night. “Six other climbers who decided to retreat from Camp 2 are safe, but Guha and Sherpa decided to make an early summit attempt and headed for Camp III last evening,” Lamsal said, quoting fellow climbers.

Rescuers from Makalu Adventure reached Camp 3 this morning after the two lost communication, Lamsal said. They were found inside a tent covered by nearly 7 feet of fresh snow. “It shows that their tent was buried by a fresh avalanche,” he added.

Efforts are underway to recover their bodies and bring them to base camp, Lamsal shared.

With today’s casualties, Manaslu has recorded four deaths this season. Earlier, Singaporean climber Lau Wee Seng died just below Camp 2, and Tashi Sherpa, a local porter, died in a tent at base camp.

Meanwhile, a few climbers have already headed to the high camp to try to summit Mt Manaslu, as the weather forecast shows a relatively favorable weather window from September 21 to 23, expedition operators said.