Seven Italians missing as avalanches kill 12 in Nepal’s deadliest autumn climbing season

Seven Italian mountaineers have gone missing in Nepal after avalanches swept across multiple Himalayan peaks, killing at least 12 people in the deadliest autumn climbing season in recent memory.

Three climbers from the country died in two separate avalanches, the Italian foreign ministry said on Wednesday. It added that efforts were underway to locate the seven still unaccounted for.

The dead were identified as Alessandro Caputo, Stefano Farronato, and Paolo Cocco.

Caputo and Farronato were killed last Friday when they were caught in an avalanche on Panbari Himal, a 6,887m peak in the Manaslu sub-range of the Nepalese Himalayas. They were trapped by heavy snowfall on 28 October and were found on 4 November, buried under 2.5m of compacted snow in a tent.

The third climber was one of seven people – five foreigners and two local guides – who were killed when an avalanche hit Yalung Ri, a 5,630m peak in the Rolwaling region, on Monday.

“At this stage, the local authorities have confirmed the deaths of three Italian climbers,” the foreign ministry said. “There remains no news of seven other Italian nationals, including Marco Di Marcello and Markus Kircheler.”

The ministry said Riccardo Dalla Costa, Italy’s consul general in Kolkata, India, had reached Kathmandu to coordinate directly with local authorities and search teams.

The family of Mr Marcello, who was climbing Yalung Ri when the avalanche struck, said his satellite radio continued to send signals and appeared to be moving, Italian news agency Ansa reported.

At 4.44pm Nepalese time, his location was about 200m higher than the last signal, it added.

Isabelle Solange Thaon, 54, who was part of the 15-member Yalung Ri expedition, lost her husband, Christian Manfred, in the tragedy. She survived along with fellow French climber Didier Armand.

“We were lucky because we were on the left,” Ms Thaon said from her hospital bed, adding that they leapt over the rocks and swam in the snow until rescue personnel arrived.

“Unfortunately, Christian died,” she said, “because rocks hit his head.”

This autumn climbing season has been one of Nepal’s deadliest in recent years, marked by strong snowstorms and devastating avalanches after Cyclone Montha from the Bay of Bengal brought fierce winds and early snowfall.

The avalanches and blizzards have killed at least 12 climbers on Ama Dablam, Yalung Ri, Himlung Himal, and Panbari Himal mountain peaks.

In Nepal, summer and autumn are favourable seasons for trekkers and mountaineers as weather conditions are better before the winter sets in. But the risk of avalanches and harsh weather remains.

Source: Independent 
--Agencies