Strange Feeling

The incident was Nepal's second major mountain disaster this year. Sixteen guides died in an avalanche in April on Mount Everest, the world's highest peak.This week's disaster was the worst since 42 people died in avalanches in the Mount Everest region in 1995, army officials said. 

Nepal, was wrapping up rescue operations in its northern mountains Monday, saying all the hikers believed to be stranded on a trekking route by a series of blizzards and avalanches that left dozens of others dead have been rescued and are safe.

The last flights by rescue helicopters in Mustang, Manang and Dolpa districts will be Monday, said Yadav Koirala of Nepal's Disaster Management Division. All the casualties were in those three districts, located northwest of the capital, Katmandu.

"We believe that all the trekkers and guides have been helped and as far as we know there are no more people stranded on the route," Koirala said, adding that some soldiers would be camped in parts of the area. At least 38 people, including trekkers from Canada, India, Israel, Slovakia, Poland and Japan, died in the blizzards and avalanches that swept the Himalayas last week.

So far, 34 bodies have been identified. Most of them have been flown to nearby towns or Katmandu for autopsies. Rescuers retrieved the bodies of nine Nepalese porters Sunday from a mountain slope. The bodies were spotted a day earlier by a rescue helicopter, but it took hours for rescuers to reach them on foot.

Also Sunday, Nepalese officials closed a section of the popular Annapurna trekking circuit because new groups of hikers had been streaming into the area where most of the victims died.

The snowstorms were whipped up by the tail end of a cyclone that hit the Indian coast a few days earlier. Hikers were caught off-guard when the weather changed quickly.

Most of the victims were on or near the Annapurna trekking route, a 220-kilometer (140-mile) collection of trails through the mountain range. Most of the casualties were among those caught on the Thorong La pass, one of the highest points on the circuit.

The International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, a regional agency based in Kathmandu that serves eight countries, released in May showing that rising temperatures caused Nepal’s glaciers to shrink by almost a quarter between 1977 and 2010  at an average loss of about 15 square miles per year.

The report also pointed out that Nepal’s average temperature change has been two to eight times greater than the global average. The report says that these changes could bring more intense and frequent floods, avalanches, and landslides.

This is not the first time a deadly blizzard has struck trekkers during the hiking season. In 1995 and 2005 more than a dozen climbers and guides were killed by storms. Then earlier this year in April an avalanche killed 16 Nepalese guides near a base camp on Mount Everest in the disaster in the mountain’s history. This avalanche was not caused by a storm, but melting ice on the famous Khumbu Icefall.

Police in Kathmandu said 82 people are still unaccounted for, including porters and villagers trapped high in the mountains when the blizzard struck. The Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal said 37 people were brought down from Thorong La pass on Friday and another 48 were rescued from different locations in the popular trekking region.

Army and civilian teams brought down more than 200 tourists, many who had taken shelter in the small guest houses and tea shops that line the Annapurna route. Helicopters assisted the search by a team of about 60 soldiers and police through deep snow near the pass.

Eight trekkers from France, seven from Germany, three from India, three from Austria, and one each from Australia, Italy, Britain and Switzerland have been rescued from Thorang Pass (5416 meters) to Muktinath on Friday. Similarly, five bodies – two Slovakians and three Nepali support staff – have been brought from Beni to Kathmandu. They perished in the snow when an avalanche hit them at Dhaulagiri Base Camp.
 

Likewise, seven bodies – of three Israelis, three Nepalis and one Polish – have been brought to Kathmandu. The bodies have been kept at TU Teaching Hospital. 

Meanwhile, the blizzard has so far claimed 16 lives in the Mustang section of the Annapurna Circuit trek. Of the deceased, 5 are from Nepal, 3 each from Israel and Poland, and 2 from Indians. Similarly, identity of three bodies has yet to be ascertained. The bodies of two Indians are still in Muktinath.

According to Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation 20 people including 14 foreigners and 6 Nepalese lost their lives and 384 tourists including 216 foreigners were rescued in the avalanche in Myagdi, Manang and Mustang districts.

Culture Minister have also informed that an Emergency Control Center had been set up under the coordination of Joint secretary of the Ministry, Suresh Acharya, and Director at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Narendra Bahadur Thapa, Major of Nepal Army Sanjeev Silwal, Superintendent of Police at Nepal Police, Ajay Bhattarai, among others.

Owing to the effect of Hudhud Cyclone in the High Himalayan region of Nepal received unfortunate blizzard/avalanche which caused sudden death/missing/ injuries to many national and international trekkers, guides and potters. 

This accident has reminded us that all trekkers who trek in this region need well preparation regarding safety and security.  

According to Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, there is a rumor that the Government of Nepal has stopped issuing permit to the trekkers to go Annapurna area, which is not true. All the destination and trekking are opened and permits have been issuing and would like to assure that Nepal is safe and secured place to visit. 

We would like to express heartfelt condolence to all the people who lost their lives in this natural calamity and pray for the fast recovery of all the injured people who injured in this accident.