The missing include eight support staff from Himalayan Holidays Nepal and two staff members from Imagine Nepal Treks, who reportedly lost contact after the avalanche buried tents at the base camp, the Expedition Operators Association Nepal (EOAN) said, according to The Himalayan Times.
Most climbers and support personnel from other expedition operators had already moved to lower elevations after weather agencies issued warnings of heavy rain, snowfall and an increased risk of avalanches across Nepal’s mountainous regions, reports said.
Search and rescue operations are currently underway.
Bibhuti Chand Thakur, founder of Himalayan Holidays Trekking, has been coordinating the rescue effort with government agencies and private operators since Sunday morning after members of a team went missing.
“The missing people are all Nepali members of the expedition, including Sherpas and support staff. No foreign climbers had yet reached the mountain. The Nepali team had been sent ahead of the foreign clients to prepare the camp, clear and manage the route and fix ropes. The foreign clients were expected to arrive in five to six days,” Thakur told The Kathmandu Post.
“The weather was fine, and they called asking us to send a rescue helicopter because eight people could not be seen,” Thakur said.
Separately, a deadly disaster reportedly triggered by the collapse of a glacier has killed nearly 1,400 people in Nepal and Tibet, while more than 5,000 people remain missing.