Asia

Asia

Death toll from Nepal's avalanche reaches 43

18 October 2014 23:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The number of the people killed in a recent avalanche in Nepal during a climbing journey has reached 43, though all surviving trekkers are reportedly out of danger, APA reports quoting Press TV.

“All remaining trekkers in the region are [now] safe having found shelter or moved to safer ground…. We have not received any further calls for rescue or for information about stranded people,” Binay Acharya of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal said Saturday as cited in a report by the UK-based, the Guardian.

Citing local officials, the report added that 43 individuals were confirmed dead in the disaster, noting that the death toll is expected to climb.

Among the victims are climbers from Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, the Israeli regime and Poland.

The report further added that the exact number of those missing is still not clearly known as the Nepalese army states that nearly 40 people are yet unaccounted for. This is while Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs has announced that more than 35 international tourists and about 30 Nepalese people are still missing.

Trekkers from various parts of the world travel to the Annapurna circuit of the Himalayas in the month of October to climb the 150-mile route around the mountain, which takes about three weeks to complete.

Nepal’s worst mountain disaster occurred in the Mustang and Manang districts on Tuesday, when the region was struck by an unseasonal snowstorm.

Rescuers could only start search operations on Wednesday after the severe weather condition let up.