KATHMANDU: Rescuers have called off the search for five climbers buried in a massive avalanche on Yalung Ri peak on November 3 in the Rolwaling region.

At least seven rescue experts and high-altitude IFMGA guides had been searching for Italian-Canadian Marco Di Marcello, Italian Markus Kirchler, German Jakob Schreiber, and Nepali guides Padam Tamang and Mere Karki since November 5. After digging several metres at the avalanche site, the team recovered only some pieces of equipment, including crampons, but have not located the climbers.

“After several search and rescue attempts, the operation has now been called off. They are buried too deep and it does not seem possible to retrieve the bodies for now," rescuers said. “We are now returning to Kathmandu.”

Mingma Sherpa, Chairman of Seven Summit Treks and Director of Heli Everest, confirmed that helicopters would soon leave for Yalung Ri Base Camp to bring the rescue team back to Kathmandu.

The four-member Nepali rescue team reached the incident site on November 5. It was led by IFMGA/NNMGA guide Riten Jangbu Sherpa and included guides Pasang Kidar Sherpa and Chhiring Sonam Lama, along with aspirant guide Pasang Temba Sherpa.

“We have called off the search and rescue operation,” said senior IFMGA guide Pasang Kidar Sherpa. “We’ve been searching for the missing climbers for the past three days but were unable to locate any of the buried bodies apart from those recovered on the first day of the operation.”

He told The Tourism Times that the hardened snow had made further digging impossible, forcing the team to suspend the search. “We plan to resume the search in June or July, once the ice melts,” Sherpa added.

They were joined on November 6 by senior high-altitude rescue experts Bruno Joseph Jelk from Switzerland, Michele Cucchi from Italy, and Nepali IFMGA guide Chhiring Pande Bhote, who were equipped with search and rescue equipment.

The Consul General of Italy in Kolkata, Riccardo Dalla Costa, who holds jurisdiction for Nepal, arrived in Kathmandu on November 5 to coordinate directly with Nepalese authorities and search teams, in close liaison with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

On the same day, the bodies of two other victims—Italian climber Paolo Cocco and French national Christian Andre Manfredi—were airlifted to Kathmandu and taken to the Teaching Hospital for post-mortem.

The avalanche struck on the morning of November 3 as a team of climbers was ascending a steep ice slope near the summit of Yalung Ri. At least seven climbers, including five foreigners, were buried. Five others were injured in the incident and are now undergoing treatment in Kathmandu hospitals.

All photos by Pasang Kidar Sherpa