Nepal Avalanche Death Toll Climbs to 15 as Rescue Operation Nears End at Himlung Himal Base Camp

Rescue teams in central Nepal have now recovered the bodies of 15 expedition workers killed when a massive avalanche tore through a mountain base camp earlier this week, according to the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association. The disaster, which struck the base camp of Himlung Himal early on Sunday, ranks among the deadliest mountaineering accidents the Himalayan nation has seen in recent years.

Eight additional bodies were retrieved on Thursday from the debris field left behind by the slide, the association's president, Tul Singh Gurung, confirmed to Reuters. The remains recovered during the day's operation were expected to be airlifted by helicopter to Kathmandu, the capital, where grieving relatives have been gathering at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital to receive the victims.

The avalanche swept through the 7,126-metre (23,345-foot) Himlung peak's base camp while Nepali support crews were preparing the site for upcoming expeditions. The workers were engaged in routine tasks such as pitching tents and fixing ropes along the climbing route when the snowmass descended. No foreign climbers were present at the camp at the time, sparing the international climbing community from casualties but leaving an entirely Nepali workforce as the victims.

Gurung indicated that hopes of finding the sole remaining missing worker alive had essentially faded, and that the search effort was likely to be formally concluded. A team of eleven rescuers, among them highly experienced mountain guides, had been laboring at the site, digging through snow that in places exceeded four metres (14 feet) in depth and had completely buried the camp's tents.

The grim sequence of recoveries began on Sunday, when the bodies of two mountain guides were pulled from the snow. On Monday, rescuers located two kitchen staff members. Another three bodies were found on Tuesday, before Thursday's largest single-day recovery of eight additional victims. The slow, methodical nature of the operation reflects both the hazardous conditions at altitude and the sheer volume of snow that cascaded onto the camp.

The Himlung disaster fits into a troubling pattern of avalanche fatalities in Nepal's high mountains. The country's worst mountaineering tragedies in recent memory both occurred on Mount Everest: an avalanche in 2014 claimed 16 lives, while an earthquake-triggered disaster the following year killed 18 people on the same peak. Those events prompted intense scrutiny of safety practices and insurance arrangements for the Sherpa guides and support staff who shoulder the greatest risks on commercial expeditions.

This week's avalanche also comes amid an extraordinarily difficult period for Nepal's disaster management authorities, who are simultaneously contending with the aftermath of catastrophic flooding. A glacial lake outburst on 26 August triggered devastating floods that killed more than 1,400 people and left over 5,000 others unaccounted for. Search teams remain deployed in those flood-affected regions even as the mountain rescue operation unfolds.

Compounding the strain, heavy rainfall that began last Thursday has set off fresh flooding and landslides across the country, with the national disaster agency reporting at least 21 additional deaths. The cumulative toll has stretched Nepal's emergency response capabilities across both its mountainous north and its flood-prone southern plains.

Nepal's economy is deeply interwoven with alpine tourism, relying heavily on mountaineering and trekking to generate foreign revenue and employment. The country is home to eight of the world's 14 peaks exceeding 8,000 metres, and its climbing industry supports thousands of guides, porters, cooks and logistics workers who make expeditions possible. Disasters of this magnitude therefore carry not only a human cost but also significant economic implications for communities that depend on expedition work.

Himlung Himal, situated near the Chinese border in the Manang district, has gained popularity in recent years among mountaineers seeking to transition from trekking peaks to more technically demanding 7,000-metre summits. Its relative accessibility and the comparatively straightforward nature of its standard route have made it a favoured training ground for climbers preparing for the world's highest mountains.

The loss of so many support workers in a single incident has renewed attention on the risks borne by Nepal's mountain crews, who perform much of the most dangerous preparatory work at base camps and along climbing routes. Unlike the foreign clients they assist, these workers often spend extended periods at altitude in the pre-season, setting up infrastructure before climbers arrive. That timing placed them directly in harm's way when the avalanche struck.

As the rescue operation at Himlung draws toward its conclusion, attention will likely shift to questions about early warning systems, camp placement decisions and the broader safety framework governing Nepal's expedition industry. For the families of the 15 dead, however, the immediate focus remains on the return of their loved ones' remains to Kathmandu and the beginning of mourning.