KATHMANDU: Hopes are almost fading of finding missing avalanche victims alive on Himlung Himal, rescuers said.

At least 16 expedition support staff, most of them kitchen staff, were buried in deep snow after an avalanche struck the base camp of Himlung Himal early this morning. 

Members of the search and rescue team said they recovered the bodies of two climbing guides from the avalanche site, where they had been buried some 15 ft beneath the deep snow. The deceased climbing guides are identified as Pasang Bhote and Chhebi Bhote, both from Sankhuwasabha.

"We will resume the search for the 14 other kitchen staff," Mingma G, team leader of the SAR team, said.

An avalanche buried the tents at the base camp while the team from Himalayan Holidays Nepal was preparing an expedition for a all female students’ group of the climbing school from the UAE. A 14-member female team is scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu on October 1.

"Fourteen from Himalayan Holidays and two kitchen staff from Imagine Nepal Treks were buried in the avalanche," said the Department of Tourism.

Two bodies have already been airlifted to Chame of Manang and will be brought to Kathmandu tomorrow, said Devashish Malla, General Manager at Himalayan Holidays, said.

At least eight IFMGA/NNMGA guides were mobilised for an immediate rescue. However, Mingma G, Ashish Gurung, Pasang Kaji Sherpa and Pemba Tsering Sherpa reached the base camp by helicopter, while others were stuck at Chame due to bad weather conditions.

"It is very unlikely that the missing people will be found alive, as the tents were buried beneath more than 15 ft of snow," rescuers who recovered the two bodies said.

The rescue team and others have now descended to Phu valley and will return to the base camp tomorrow morning, the Nepal National Mountain Guides Association said.

After conducting a search, Mingma G posted: “A slab avalanche triggered this morning at Himlung Base Camp buried 14 kitchen team members from two teams, plus two climbing guides. Today, we recovered the bodies of two guides. The 14 kitchen staff remain missing. Search efforts will continue tomorrow.”

“We could have saved lives today, but due to bad weather, we reached the accident site only in the evening. Even so, we recovered two bodies,” he added.

“My amazing cook, Ash, and his assistant, Kirte, are missing in the avalanche. The rest of my team is safe. We tried our best to convince them since Friday to leave Base Camp and move to the lower valley, but they did not take our warnings seriously and ignored them. We still hope to find our friends alive.”

“Please take information only from NNMGA, as the expert rescue team involved here is under NNMGA,” he urged.

Mingma G flew back to Kathmandu yesterday and flew again to Himlung Base Camp today for search and rescue. Currently, eight mountain guides from NNMGA are on the ground with our other teams.