The government is sending a “well-equipped high-tech team” to rescue seven missing trekkers in Annapurna Rural Municipality of Kaski district today.
The rescue team is scheduled to leave Kathmandu before 10:00 am on Monday in an army helicopter, according to the Department of Tourism (DoT).
Four South Korean nationals and three Nepalis have gone missing since an avalanche hit the area on Friday morning.
Rescue teams deployed in the area are struggling to find the missing trekkers due to heavy snowfall in the area.
Although the government has claimed seven trekkers are missing, there are speculations that the number might go up as people go for trekking as free individual trekkers.
A rescue team led by TAAN member Bijay KC had to return empty handed from Deurali yesterday as the rescue efforts seemed “almost impossible” due to adverse weather.
The area where the incident took place is reportedly covered in more than 10 feet of snow. It could take as long as a month to clear the debris at the spot where the Koreans are said to have been stuck.
As per the locals, other trekkers were also travelling through the route at the time of the avalanche. This has raised fears that several others besides the seven identified trekkers might have fallen victim to the natural disaster.
According to Yonhap News Agency, a government-funded news agency of South Korea, the four missing teachers — two women in their 30s and 50s and two men in their 50s — were trekking in the Deurali area of the Annapurna Base Camp trail on Friday morning in a team of nine when the avalanche engulfed them. Other members of the team have safely descended, reported AFP.
