Kathmandu | Three unidentified bodies were discovered by mountain guides in Nepal, in the area where three young French climbers disappeared on October 26 after an avalanche in the Everest region, local police told AFP on Monday.
“We received the information that local mountain guides found three bodies,” said Rishi Raj Dhakal, inspector and spokesperson for the Solukhumbu District Police Office.
The bodies were discovered “roughly in the same area where the research was conducted” of the three young French mountaineers missing, he said.
“A helicopter accompanied by a rescue team made up of professional mountain guides were dispatched to bring back these bodies”, continued the police officer.
“We cannot confirm the identity of these bodies at this time. If the weather remains favorable, the mountain guides will collect the bodies, ”he added.
The head of operations of Kailash Helicopter Services has confirmed the dispatch of one of its aircraft.
“Our helicopter went there to recover the bodies,” Shree Hari Kuikel told AFP.
After two days of interruption, operations resumed Friday to find Louis Pachoud, Gabriel Miloche and Thomas Arfi, French mountaineers who have been missing since October 26, following an avalanche during their ascent of the west face of the Mingbo Eiger culminating in 6070 meters above sea level.
Ang Norbu, sherpa and head of the search and rescue operation, said his team of five mountain guides was to be joined last Saturday by experienced international mountain guides from France.
Members of the National Mountaineering Excellence Group (GEAN), an elite formation of the French Federation of Alpine and Mountain Clubs (FFCAM), the young mountaineers were part of a team that arrived at the end of September, in the Khumbu region and Everest, with the aim of climbing different peaks culminating at some 5000 and 6000 m, south of Ama Dablam (6814 m).
“The hope of finding survivors is now almost nil,” FFCAM said last Monday.
The last telephone contact with the young people from their bivouac dates back to October 26, according to the Federation.
“The reconnaissance by helicopter dispatched by the FFCAM on Sunday 31 October in the morning as well as the overflight of their way on Monday 1 November made it possible to locate their tracks up to 5,900 meters on the ridge which leads to the summit. At this altitude, the rescuers were able to observe the triggering of an avalanche, ”added the FFCAM.
Nepal reopened its doors in September to foreign climbers, exempting those vaccinated from quarantine.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought the country’s tourism industry of 30 million people to a halt last year, devastating its heavily dependent economy.