Katmandu, Sep 25: The mountaineers were in darkness when they heard the thunderous boom, the crush of snow. Helplessly, they slid down Mount Mansalu, the world's eighth-highest peak.
It would take an hour for the sun to rise and for the survivors to see what horrors the avalanche had wrought.
Pieces of tents and bodies of victims were strewn around on the snow on the Himalayan peak in Nepal. Several other people were injured, and more still were simply gone.
"It was only a few seconds and we did not know what happened, but we had slid more than 200 meters ," Italian climber Silvio Mondinelli told AP on Monday. "All we wanted was for it to stop."
Rescuers have brought down eight bodies -- four French, one each from Germany, Italy and Spain, and a Nepali guide. Many of the 10 survivors, including Mondinelli, were injured and flown to hospitals by rescue helicopters.
The number of climbers unaccounted for is unclear. Officials had said Monday that they were attempting to recover a ninth body, and that six other people remained missing, but they were more tentative about those numbers Tuesday.
Police Chief Basanta Bahadur Kuwar said there was lot of confusion among the climbers and since the avalanche occurred at an elevation of 7,000 meters , it was difficult for anyone but trained Sherpa guides to reach.
Nepal Mountaineering Department chief Balkrishan Ghimire said Tuesday that officials had the names of only three people reported missing. The government does not have officials posted on the mountain and the nearest police station is two-day trek away from the base camp.
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