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| An avalanche struck the Himlung Himal base camp in Manang, leaving at least 10 expedition workers missing. (nepal-avalanche-himlung-himal-base-camp.jpg) |
Nepal is being hit again. Barely a month after a glacier collapse unleashed one of the deadliest floods in the country's modern history, a Nepal avalanche has struck the base camp of Himlung Himal, leaving at least 10 expedition workers missing. At the same time, heavy rain and landslides across the country have killed at least 14 people and left more unaccounted for. For a nation still digging out from a catastrophe that killed more than 1,400 people, the new wave of extreme weather is a brutal second blow.
The Himlung Himal Avalanche
The avalanche hit on Sunday morning at the base camp of the 7,126-meter peak in Nepal's Manang district, near the Tibet border. Sherpas and kitchen staff were fixing ropes and setting up tents for a group from the United Arab Emirates due to arrive on October 1 when a torrent of snow and rock swept down the mountainside. These were the people who make every Himalayan expedition possible, working ahead of the paying clients who were still days from arriving.
The casualty figures remain unclear. CNN reported that at least four people were killed. Other outlets, citing the Expedition Operators Association Nepal, have said at least 10 staff members are unaccounted for, and the exact number is still being confirmed. Those missing come from different expedition companies, which has made a precise headcount harder.
"We are very devastated," Barun Bhandari, general manager of Himalayan Holidays, the company organizing the expedition, told CNN. He said his company first heard that six or seven of its crew were missing but could not yet confirm the number. He also said this was the first avalanche of its kind in that exact area, and that the flat ground at base camp made it especially surprising. "The mountain is unpredictable," he added.
Reports say expedition and rope-fixing teams had evacuated the slopes after a weather warning was issued last week, but some people stayed behind. Several days of heavy snowfall had already forced climbers to retreat from the autumn ascent.
A Race Against the Weather
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| Nepal is hit by more extreme weather just weeks after the deadly Trishuli River flood (nepal-floods-rescue-trishuli-river.jpg) |
Rescue has been extremely difficult. Reaching Himlung Himal by helicopter requires an additional permit, which officials say has complicated access. Thick snow and poor visibility initially kept helicopters and rescue teams out. Eight guides from the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations were preparing to head to the mountain to search, and a team of experienced mountaineers was flown in from Kathmandu. Local reports said the effort was expected to progress further as conditions gradually improved.
Himalayan Holidays said it was working with Nepal's tourism board to confirm the exact number of people missing and to send a rescue helicopter to base camp. But with rain and snow continuing across the region, every hour matters and the weather is not cooperating.
The avalanche is only part of the crisis. A weather system over the Bay of Bengal has brought heavy snowfall to the mountains and persistent rain to Nepal's hills and plains since Friday. Floods and landslides have killed at least 14 people in Nepal, with 11 more reported missing, and authorities have warned that more flash floods are possible.
In Baglung district, a landslide buried a home while a family slept, killing four people, including three children and a woman. Floods and landslides also damaged optical fibres and power supplies, disrupting telecommunications in parts of the country, and several road sections have been closed to traffic.
The storm has not stopped at the border. In India's Uttar Pradesh, the same system dumped many times the normal rainfall, killing dozens of people and damaging more than a thousand houses. Bloomberg later reported that deaths across India and Nepal had passed 100, with Nepal's disaster authority counting 20 dead from landslides and windstorms.
Weeks After the Nepal-China Border Flood
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| Heavy snow and avalanche risk have closed Nepal's Manaslu climbing season, with Dhaulagiri teams also forced back to base camp. (nepal-weather-manaslu-expedition-cancelled.jpg) |
The timing makes this disaster even harder to absorb. On the morning of August 26, a rock-ice avalanche from the Langtang Lirung area turned into a fast-moving debris flow that tore through the China-Nepal border region. It destroyed Gyirong Port on the border and struck dozens of settlements along a 72-kilometer stretch of the Trishuli River. Reports put the toll in Nepal at more than 1,400 dead and more than 5,000 missing, with dozens more killed in Tibet.
Experts say water levels in the Trishuli rose by as much as nine meters in just 30 minutes. Hundreds of people, including foreign tourists and Hindu pilgrims traveling toward Mount Kailash, were reported missing in the early hours of the disaster. Rescuers struggled to reach workers trapped inside hydropower tunnels, and the Nepali army pulled out 254 workers from one project alone.
This was not the first warning. Climate researchers noted that the Lhende Khola river had flooded twice in 14 months, and a similar flood in the same Rasuwa region in July of last year swept away the Friendship Bridge connecting Nepal and China. For scientists, the pattern points to a warming Himalaya where glaciers and rock slopes are becoming less stable.
Nepal's Climbing Season Collapses
The storm has upended Nepal's autumn climbing season. Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest peak, had 493 climbers on 41 teams holding permits this autumn, generating about $1.479 million in climbing royalties. Major operators, including Seven Summit Treks, have now closed their Manaslu programs after fresh snow and avalanches made the upper mountain unsafe. On Dhaulagiri, teams have retreated to base camp, having reached only Camp II.
Nepal's Department of Tourism has urged trekkers and climbers to suspend activities. Yet the country, which relies heavily on tourism, has also been urging international visitors not to cancel their trips despite the devastation. With severe weather warnings still in place and rescuers searching a mountain base camp, that message is colliding head-on with reality.
A Dangerous Year in the Himalayas
Himlung Himal is only the latest in a string of mountain tragedies. On July 30, an avalanche on Pakistan's Broad Peak killed 10 climbers, among them the British-Nepali guide Nirmal Purja. Last November, seven climbers, including five foreigners, died in an avalanche at Yalung Ri base camp in Nepal after heavy snow. Each disaster has raised the same uncomfortable question about how safe it is to run expeditions in mountains that are changing faster than the systems built to protect people on them.
Industry observers say the latest incident renews the debate over weather forecasting, emergency communications, evacuation procedures and trained rescue teams at high altitude, especially for the local staff who arrive first and leave last.
What Happens Next
Rescuers are racing to find the missing at Himlung Himal as the weather allows, and officials are still working to confirm exactly how many people were at base camp. With more rain forecast and rivers still swollen, Nepal faces several more days of danger after a month that has already cost it more than most countries endure in years.
The numbers in this story are still changing. This post will be updated as official counts are confirmed.