Nepal recovers bodies of five climbers killed in avalanche

Nepali rescuers have recovered the bodies of five climbers, including three foreign nationals, who were killed in an avalanche near the border with China last year, LRT reported, citing officials.

The avalanche struck the climbers on the slopes of 5,630-metre Jalung Ri in November 2025, near Nepal’s border with Tibet.

“Our rescue team brought all five bodies back by helicopter this morning,” Phurba Tenjing Sherpa, director of the expedition company Dreamers Destination, told AFP. He said the dead included an Italian-Canadian citizen, a German and an Italian.

The bodies of all five climbers, including two Nepali nationals, were spotted on Saturday. Sherpa said his team and other expedition companies had searched the area after the avalanche, but deep snow had prevented them from recovering the remains.

“This time we managed to find the bodies because the snow had melted,” he said.

Senior local police official Manoj Kumar Lama said the remains would be transported to Kathmandu when weather conditions allowed.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest mountains, including Mount Everest, and attracts thousands of climbers and trekkers each year. According to the Himalayan Database expedition archive, more than 1,000 people have died in the mountains since 1950, with avalanches accounting for nearly one-third of the deaths.