Nepal Avalanche Death Toll Reaches 15 as Rescue Operation Nears Conclusion at Himlung Himal Base Camp

Rescue teams in central Nepal have now recovered the bodies of 15 expedition workers who were buried when a powerful avalanche tore through a Himalayan base camp earlier this week, according to the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association. The disaster, which struck the base camp of Himlung Himal in the Manang district, ranks among the deadliest mountaineering incidents the country has witnessed in recent years.

Eight additional bodies were retrieved on Thursday from the debris field left behind by the massive snowslide, bringing the confirmed death toll to 15. The avalanche had slammed into the camp in the early hours of Sunday, catching workers as they slept in tents pitched at the foot of the 7,126-metre (23,345-foot) peak.

Tul Singh Gurung, president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, confirmed the recovery figures and said the latest victims were expected to be flown by helicopter to Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, where families and friends had been gathering at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital to receive the remains. Emotional scenes unfolded at the hospital as relatives learned of the losses.

The workers who perished were part of a support crew preparing the route for future expeditions. They had been pitching tents and fixing ropes along the climbing path when the avalanche struck, performing the behind-the-scenes labour that makes commercial and exploratory mountaineering possible on Nepal's high peaks. No foreign climbers were present at the base camp at the time of the disaster, as the climbing season had not yet brought international expeditions to the site.

According to Gurung, the chances of finding the one remaining missing worker alive are extremely slim, and the search operation is expected to be formally concluded in the coming days. A rescue team of eleven people, including highly experienced mountain guides, had been working at the site, digging through snow that in places exceeded four metres (14 feet) in depth.

The timeline of recoveries illustrates the arduous nature of the operation. The bodies of two mountain guides were pulled from the snow on Sunday, the day of the avalanche itself. Two kitchen staff members were recovered on Monday, followed by another three bodies on Tuesday. The additional eight were found on Thursday, after teams had spent days excavating the buried camp.

The disaster has renewed attention on the risks faced by Nepali expedition workers, who often bear the greatest danger in mountaineering operations while receiving far less recognition than the international clients they support. These workers, many of them from ethnic communities with generations of high-altitude experience, perform essential tasks such as route-finding, rope-fixing, cooking, and carrying equipment to prepare camps for paying climbers who arrive later in the season.

Himlung Himal, situated near Nepal's northern border with China, is a popular objective for mountaineers seeking to transition from trekking peaks to more serious 7,000-metre ascents. While it does not rank among the infamous 8,000-metre giants that draw global attention, its base camp remains vulnerable to the avalanches and weather hazards that characterise the Himalayan region.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's fourteen highest mountains, and the country's economy depends heavily on mountaineering and trekking tourism. The industry generates substantial revenue and employs thousands of guides, porters, and support staff, particularly during the spring and autumn climbing seasons. The loss of so many experienced workers in a single incident represents both a human tragedy and a blow to the tight-knit community of Nepali mountain professionals.

The avalanche ranks among Nepal's worst mountaineering disasters since 2014, when an avalanche on Mount Everest killed 16 people, and 2015, when an earthquake-triggered avalanche on Everest claimed 18 lives. Those incidents prompted significant debate about safety regulations and the treatment of Nepali workers on the world's highest peaks. The current tragedy may intensify calls for improved protections and insurance for expedition staff.

The disaster comes amid an already difficult period for Nepal, which is still grappling with the aftermath of catastrophic flooding caused by a glacial collapse on 26 August. That event killed more than 1,400 people and left over 5,000 missing, in one of the worst natural disasters in the country's recent history. Rescue teams continue to search for bodies from that catastrophe even as they respond to the avalanche in Manang.

Compounding the strain on emergency services, heavy rainfall since Thursday has triggered additional floods and landslides across the country, resulting in at least 21 more deaths, according to the national disaster agency. The combination of a deadly avalanche in the high mountains and ongoing flood emergencies in the lowlands has stretched Nepal's disaster response capabilities during an unusually punishing season.

The Himlung operation is likely to conclude with the final missing worker unaccounted for, according to association officials. As the rescue teams prepare to withdraw, attention will turn to the families of the deceased, many of whom were the primary breadwinners for their households. The recovery of the final bodies and their transport to Kathmandu will mark the end of a grim chapter in a climbing season that had barely begun.

For a country whose identity and livelihood are bound to its mountain landscapes, each such disaster carries profound implications. The workers who died on Himlung were not celebrated summiteers but the unsung architects of other people's expeditions, and their deaths serve as a reminder of the human cost that underpins Nepal's mountaineering industry. As the recovered bodies make their way to the capital, the debate over how best to protect those who work in the shadow of the world's tallest peaks is likely to grow louder.