Bodies of five climbers killed last year retrieved in Nepal

KATHMANDU - Rescuers in Nepal have retrieved the bodies of five mountaineers, including three foreigners, killed in an avalanche near the Chinese border last year, officials said on Sunday.

The avalanche hit the climbers on the lower flanks of the 5,630-metre (18,471-foot) Yalung Ri peak, near Nepal's border with Tibet, in November 2025.

"All five bodies were retrieved this morning by helicopter and our rescue team," Phurba Tenjing Sherpa, director of expedition company Dreamers Destination, told AFP.

The foreigners were an Italian-Canadian, a German and an Italian, he said. The bodies of all five climbers, including two Nepalis, were spotted on Saturday.

Sherpa said his team, along with other expedition companies, had carried out a search in the area after the avalanche swept the climbers away.

"Due to thick snow, we could not find the bodies, so we postponed the search... It was possible to find the bodies now, because the snow melted this time," he said.

Senior local police officer Manoj Kumar Lama said the bodies would be brought to Kathmandu as soon as the weather was clear.

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

According to the Himalayan Database, an expedition archive, more than 1,000 people have died on peaks since 1950, with avalanches killing almost a third of them. - AFP