18 climbers feared dead, France sending an alpinist (news update)

October 24, 2005
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As worst is being feared regarding the fate of 18 climbers including seven French mountaineers and 11 Nepali support staff, the French government said it is sending an experienced alpinist to help in the rescue operation in Nepal Himalayas.

Reuters news agency quoted the French Foreign Ministry as saying Sunday that it was sending an alpine specialist to help in the rescue mission.

“We are still extremely worried about the roped party of seven French climbers and their Nepali Sherpas,” the ministry said in a statement. “We tried (on Saturday) to send out a helicopter to find this party, but difficult weather conditions did not allow it. The helicopter was able to take off on Sunday,” the Ministry said.

A 21-member team, led by the veteran French climber Daniel Stolzenberg, was isolated by snowstorms as they attempted to climb Mount Kanguru, over 6,000-metre high summit in north-west Nepal.

Four Nepali porters were rescued by helicopter on Sunday but Nepali authorities said bad weather and poor communications were hampering efforts to find the remaining climbers.

The expedition members are out of contact since Thursday when they were on their way to climb Mr. Kanguru at an altitude of around 15,000 ft.

“All the 18 team members including seven French and 11 Nepalese have died in the mountain, while four Nepalese, who were staying outside the tents, managed to save their lives,” Nepal 1 private channel reported Sunday evening.

When contacted, a senior police official at the Western Regional Police Office in Pokhara said all he could confirm was that the expedition members were missing.

One of the rescued Nepali porters told reporters that he and the three other survivors had escaped because they were outside the tents when the snowstorm hit. He said the rest of the team disappeared.

Meanwhile, Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) officials in Kathmandu told Nepalnews Monday morning that they haven’t heard anything from the rescue mission as yet. The Association has dispatched seven-member rescue team aboard an MI-17 chopper to carry out the search and rescue mission. “We are still discussing further action,” an HRA official said.

The HRA officials said the French expedition was cut off by earlier than expected snowstorms that had triggered an avalanche. Normally the first snows arrive later in the month.