17 killed in Everest avalanche as Nepal quake death toll nears 2,000
An avalanche on Mount Everest, which was triggered by a deadly earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale in Nepal, has claimed the lives of at least 17 people, Nepalese officials say.
Officials said on Sunday that the death toll from the avalanche, which hit a mountaineering base camp on the world’s tallest mountain, is expected to rise.
Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association said the bodies of 17 people had been recovered after part of Everest base camp was engulfed by the snowslide. Sixty-one people have reportedly been injured.
Reports indicate that about six helicopters have landed on Mount Everest Base Camp to rescue victims. At least 40 people are reportedly injured.
Meanwhile, heavy snowfall on Saturday had prevented helicopters from reaching the area.
Google Executive Dan Fredinburg is the only victim to have been identified so far.
The avalanche came as hundreds of mountaineers had gathered at the start of Mount Everest’s climbing season.
The earthquake which hit Nepal near its capital on Saturday was the strongest quake to hit the area in 80 years. Neighboring India, China and Bangladesh also felt the quake.
Authorities said that at least 1,970 people had died, all but 60 of them in Nepal. At least 721 of them had died in the capital Kathmandu alone.
Some 4,718 people have also been injured by the powerful earthquake so far. Many more are feared dead under rubble as rescue efforts are underway to pull out the victims.
Reports suggest more than 40 people have been killed in India as a result of the quake, while China says at least 15 people have also lost their lives in the Tibet region.
SZH/MKA/HMV
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