Climbers die in Himalayan storm, Nepal

Associated Press (ap.org, Oct. 15, 2018); Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Mt. Everest beckons climbers like a magnet.

KATHMANDU, Nepal - The nine climbers who died during the worst disaster on a Nepalese mountain in recent years included the first South Korean to summit all 14 Himalayan peaks over 26,247 feet (8,000 meters) without using supplemental oxygen.

PHOTO: Officials unload the bodies after a helicopter carrying bodies of those killed in Gurja Himal mountain arrives at the Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. Rescuers retrieved the bodies of five South Korean climbers and their four Nepalese guides from Gurja Himal Mountain, where they were killed when their base camp was swept by a strong storm.
 

An official from the South Korea's Corean Alpine Club said the bodies of Kim Chang-ho and four other South Koreans killed will arrive in South Korea on Wednesday. Four Nepalese guides were also killed when a storm swept the climbers' base camp on Gurja Himal Mountain (Dhaulagiri) Friday.

 

Sudden weather changes are common.

Rescuers had retrieved the climbers' bodies on Sunday after weather cleared. The body of one of the guides was taken to his village, while the eight others were flown to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.

"It was the worst mountaineering disaster in Nepal in recent years and an unimaginable one," said Rameshwor Niraula of Nepal's Mountaineering Department, which issues climbing permits and monitors expeditions.

 

Niraula said officials were still gathering details of what exactly happened. But from what rescuers described, the climbers were blown over by the blast of the blizzard-like wind conditions. More