Monsoon storms batter Nepal

A month after the catastrophic flood on the Bhote Kosi-Trisuli, Nepal has been battered by a late monsoon storm that caused a deadly avalanche on a mountaineering peak on Sunday, landslides hit settlements and floods destroyed homes across the country.

The massive avalanche hit the base camp of Himlung Himal (7,126m) in the Nar Phu area of Manang. Fourteen Nepali guides and support staff who were preparing for the arrival of foreign clients are missing.

There have been numerous fatalities across the country as landslides buried homes, swollen rivers swept away settlements along the Kali Gandaki, Tinau and other rivers as the storm moved from east to west. Four of the five highway arteries connecting Kathmandu to the rest of the country have been blocked by landslides.

Expeditions withdrew from Manaslu due to blizzard conditions and up to 3m of snowfall at base camp that buried tents. The route up the world’s eighth highest mountain was said to be too treacherous for the climbers to go up due to avalanche danger. There was still one expedition holding out at base camp of Dhaulagiri, the world’s seventh-highest mountain.