Rescuers in Nepal search for climbers’ bodies in an avalanche

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KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescuers dug through ice and snow on a mountain in Nepal on Tuesday to look for the bodies of seven climbers who were killed by an avalanche, officials said.

The avalanche pounded the base camp at Mount Yalung Ri, located at 4,900 meters (16,000 feet), on Monday morning. Snowstorms prevented rescuers from reaching the site the same day, but the weather cleared Tuesday and a helicopter landed with rescuers.

The Dolkha district administration office said that eight other climbers who were injured in the avalanche were flown to the capital, Kathmandu, for treatment. Among them were three French and five Nepali nationals.

At least three bodies were pulled out of the snow by Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Isabelle Solange Thaon, 54, said she lost her husband, Christian Manfred, in the avalanche but was lucky to have survived with another French climber, Didier Armand.

“We were lucky because we were on the left,” Thaon said from her hospital bed, adding that they lept over the rocks and swam in the snow until help arrived to pull them out.

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

Also among those killed were two Nepali mountain guides, but the identity of the remaining four was still unclear.

Mount Yalung Ri is a 5,600-meter (18,370-foot) peak considered suitable for novice mountaineers.

Meanwhile, the bodies of two missing Italian climbers were recovered Tuesday on a separate mountain, according to Nepal’s Tourism Department.

Italy’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said Nepalese authorities confirmed the deaths of Alessandro Caputo and Stefano Farronato. They were climbing Panbari Peak when contact was lost Friday.

“Their compatriots had been caught in heavy snowfall at Camp 1 (5,000 meters),” the Italian ministry said.

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Associated Press writer Giada Zampano in Rome, Italy, contributed to this report.