At least 10 people are known dead after a huge 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Nepal causes an avalanche on Mt. Everest on Saturday. The devastating event crashed into a climber’s base camp near the foothills of Mt. Everest, injuring and killing some of those who had come to the area to travel up the famous mountain.
The avalanche on Mt. Everest is reported as striking in-between the Khumbu Icefall, which is an especially treacherous region of fallen ice and snow, according to members of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
Bodies Recovered in Avalanche on Mt. Everest
According to officials, bodies of those killed in the avalanche on Mt. Everest have been recovered, but their identities or nationalities are not known at this time. However, a Chinese media outlet has said that one of their citizens was one of those killed. It’s possible that there will be other deaths and injuries reported due to the avalanche on Mt. Everest as the data continues to travel into media agencies.
An eerie fact revealed that a similar avalanche on Mt. Everest occurred on April 23, 2014, almost a year to the date from today’s event. That snow and rockslide killed at least 16 people and happened in almost exactly the same area of the mountain close to the base camp. The base camp is usually placed at a level of about 5,000 meters or 16,500 feet up the mountain by those who travel there to climb the famous peak.
Many Climbers, Others on Mountain at Time of Avalanche
The avalanche on Mt. Everest is reported to have buried a portion of the base camp, which could mean the death toll rising, as hundreds of people, including 1,000 people who are said to be on travel in the area, including about 400 foreign climbers, as well as their guides.
The month of April is a very popular time for climbing Mt. Everest, as it is before the rains start to hit the region and makes it too cloudy to climb safety. The earthquake that caused the avalanche on Mt. Everest is said to be the worst one in the Nepal area in the past 81 years, and has also spawned aftershocks that have been over a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale.
A Chinese report said that one of their climbing teams reported encountering another avalanche that occurred on the north side of Mount Everest at the 7,000-meter elevation. The team of climbers reportedly was able to get to relative safety after the incident and headed down to a lower level of the mountain. Other reports from the Swedish news media said that Sherpa guides were in contact with other guides at the time of the avalanche at Mt. Everest and said that they believed up to 80 people could have been hit by the snow slide.
