KATMANDU: An avalanche in Nepal killed at least nine climbers including a German man, an Italian, a Spaniard and a local guide trying to conquer one of the world’s most deadly mountains, officials said Sunday.
The expedition of about 25 members were near the top of Manaslu ahead of a final push to the 8,156-meter (26,759 feet) summit when it was hit by a wall of snow on Saturday night.
“Nine bodies have been recovered from the mountain, including one Sherpa guide and a German mountaineer,” Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, the local deputy superintendent of police, told AFP by telephone.
“So far, 13 people have been rescued alive, of whom five have been airlifted to Katmandu for treatment,” he added.
Three climbers were thought to still be missing when rescue operations were called off for the night.
Ang Tshering Sherpa, vice president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, identified one of the dead as an Italian after speaking to a rescue helicopter pilot and local government officials in Samar.
“One Italian climber’s body has brought down to Samar, a town near Manaslu, along with the one dead Sherpa,” he told AFP. “It’s very difficult to communicate with the base camp because the weather is bad.”
The ministry of tourism identified a third dead man as Spanish.
The nationalities and genders of the other dead and injured were not known by Sunday evening, but the group also included some French members.
Police said several injured climbers were stuck at base camp because rescue helicopters could not fly due to poor visibility.
Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world, is considered one of the most dangerous, with scores of deaths in recent years and just a few hundred successful ascents.
“The avalanche hit camp three of the Manaslu peak located at 7,000 meters resulting in a flood of snow,” said Laxmi Dhakal, head of the home ministry’s disaster response division.
Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 meters, including the world’s highest, Mount Everest, and attracts thousands of mountaineers every year.
Most come in the spring, when Himalayan conditions are at their best, but there is also a short climbing season in late September and October after the monsoon rains end.
Nepal’s worst-ever climbing disaster happened in 1995 when a huge avalanche struck the camp of a Japanese trekking group in the Mount Everest region, killing 42 people including 13 Japanese.
In 2005 a powder-snow avalanche ploughed into a French expedition’s base camp, on Kang Guru, in the Manang region of central Nepal, sweeping all seven members of the team as well as 11 Nepalese staff to their deaths.
Manaslu saw its worst disaster when a South Korean expedition was buried by snow attempting to climb the northeast face of Manaslu in 1972. The 15 dead included 10 Sherpas and the Korean expedition leader.
Nine climbers killed in Nepal avalanche
Nine climbers killed in Nepal avalanche
Norway launches probe of Middle East diplomat and husband over Epstein links
- Mona Juul resigned from her position as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq
- Juul and her husband Terje Rod-Larsen played key roles in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords
OSLO: Norwegian police said Monday they have launched an “aggravated corruption” investigation against a high-profile diplomat, Mona Juul, and her husband Terje Rod-Larsen, over the couple’s links to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The police economic crime unit Okokrim said in statement that the probe began last week and that an Oslo residence was searched on Monday, as well as a residence belonging to a witness.
“We have launched an investigation to determine whether any criminal offenses have been committed. We are facing a comprehensive and, by all accounts lengthy investigation,” Okokrim chief Pal Lonseth, said.
Juul, 66, and Rod-Larsen, 78, played key roles in the secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s.
Epstein left $10 million in his will to the couple’s two children, according to Norwegian media.
“Among other things, Okokrim will investigate whether she received benefits in connection to her position,” the statement said.
On Sunday, the foreign ministry announced that Juul had resigned from her position as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq.
“Juul’s contact with the convicted abuser Epstein has shown a serious lapse in judgment,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in connection to the announcement.
She had already been temporarily suspended last week pending an internal investigation by the ministry into her alleged links to Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
Norway’s political and royal circles have been thrust into the eye of the Epstein storm, including the CEO of the World Economic Forum Borge Brende.
Former prime minister Thorbjorn Jagland, is also being investigated for “aggravated corruption” over links to Epstein while he was chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee — which awards the Nobel Peace Prize — and as secretary general of the Council of Europe.
Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has also come under scrutiny for her relationship with Epstein, which on Friday she said she “deeply regretted.”
On Monday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store voiced support for the establishing of an independent commission set up by Parliament, to fully examine the nature of the ties between these figures and Epstein.
