Two mountaineers from Italy want to climb the 6,887 meter high Panbari in the Himalayas. Then it starts to snow heavily in Nepal. There has been no contact with the men for days. A helicopter only saves the leader of the expedition.
Two mountaineers from Italy are missing in Nepal. There has been no contact since Saturday with Stefano Farronato and Alessandro Caputo, who wanted to climb the 6,887 meter high Panbari in the Himalayas, said Himal Gautam from Nepal’s tourism authority on Monday.
The men were snowed in on the way to the summit in Camp 1. The leader of their expedition, who was still at the base camp, was brought to safety by helicopter on Sunday.
Cyclone Montha caused heavy rain and snow across Nepal last week. As a result, numerous hikers were stranded on popular trekking routes in the Himalayas.
According to the Nepal Trekking Operators Association, more than 1,000 tourists have had to be rescued since last Tuesday. The rescue helicopter operations were very difficult due to poor visibility, said association chairman Sagar Pandey.
Rescue team took three days to 18 hikers
In the Mustang district in western Nepal, rescue teams from the Nepalese army only managed to reach three British and 15 Nepalese hikers on Friday after three days. The rescuers had to fight their way through the snow themselves.
Nepal is home to eight of the ten highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest. The peaks attract hundreds of mountaineers every year. The mountaineering season in autumn is less popular than spring because the days are shorter and colder and there is a risk of heavy snowfall.
jwo/AFP
