Collected photo

KATHMANDU, Nov 6, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Nepali rescuers on Thursday searched for 
the bodies of multiple climbers killed in an avalanche this week, while Italy 
said five citizens reported missing in a separate incident were safe.

Seven people were killed on Monday when an avalanche hit multiple expedition 
teams at the base camp of 5,630-metre (18,471-foot) Yalung Ri peak near 
Nepal's border with China.

"Mountain guides, skilled in search, have been deployed," Mingma Sherpa of 
Seven Summit Treks told AFP.

Crews are digging through snow, and scanning the white landscape with 
electronic detectors.

Sherpa said that they were searching for five bodies -- two Italians, two 
Nepalis and one German. The bodies of an Italian and a French citizen had 
already been recovered.

Survivors recounted to AFP how slabs of ice smashed into the group as they 
clung on the mountain, burying some under the snow.

In a separate incident last week, two Italian climbers died while attempting 
to scale the 6,887-metre Panbari mountain.

Italy's foreign ministry had also reported several missing citizens trekking 
in Nepal, but said Thursday they had "managed to communicate with the group 
of five hikers... with whom there had been no contact for several days".

It said the five were safe and well.

Home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest, Nepal 
welcomes hundreds of climbers and trekkers every year.

Last month, Cyclone Montha triggered heavy rain and snowfall across Nepal, 
leaving trekkers and tourists stranded on popular Himalayan routes.

According to the Himalayan Database, an expedition archive, at least 1,093 
people have died on peaks since 1950, with avalanches killing almost a third 
of them.