Two guides dead, 14 still missing after avalanche hits Himlung Himal base camp in Nepal

Two climbing guides have been found dead and 14 kitchen staff remain missing after an avalanche struck the base camp of Himlung Himal in Nepal on Sunday, the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association (NNMGA) said.

The association said 16 people from different expedition companies were reported missing after the avalanche — 14 kitchen staff members and two climbing guides. The two guides have since been located, but both were found dead.

A four-member NNMGA/IFMGA rescue team led by mountain guide Mingma G has reached the avalanche site by Prabhu Helicopter and begun the search for the remaining missing workers. Four additional rescue team members are waiting at the airport, ready to deploy.

Bibhu Chand Thakur, president of Himalayan Holidays Nepal, said the company had 22 members stationed at the base camp but only nine had been contacted since the avalanche, adding that unstable communications in the area made it difficult to verify the status of the others.

Earlier reports put the missing at ten: expedition organiser Bibhuti Chand Thakur told AFP that eight members of his Himalaya Holidays Trekking team and two climbers from another company were unaccounted for, all of them Nepali, and that helicopters were grounded by bad weather. The Expedition Operators Association Nepal said two of the missing were affiliated with Imagine Nepal Pvt Ltd and the rest with Himalayan Holidays Nepal, the Kathmandu Post reported.

The 7,126-metre Himlung Himal, in the Nar Phu area of Manang district near the border with Tibet, had seen several days of heavy snowfall before the avalanche struck on Sunday morning. Nepal’s Department of Tourism has advised that trekking and mountaineering activities be put on hold as a Bay of Bengal weather system brings heavy snow and rain.

Expedition organiser Mingma Gyalje Sherpa confirmed to ANI that two of his kitchen staff were among the missing, and said teams had evacuated the mountain’s slopes after a weather warning issued last week while some staff stayed behind.

The avalanche comes after an exceptionally destructive monsoon season: floods on 26 August killed more than 1,400 people and left thousands more missing in Nepal, according to media reports.

Sources

• The Himalayan Times (NNMGA): https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/two-guides-dead-14-still-missing-after-himlung-base-camp-avalanche
• The Week (Kathmandu Post/EOAN): https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2026/09/27/10-missing-in-nepal-after-avalanche-hits-himlung-himal-amid-severe-weather.html
• CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/27/asia/nepal-avalanche-missing-intl-hnk?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_meta
• AFP via The Straits Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/ten-missing-on-nepals-himlung-peak-after-avalanche
• ANI via The Tribune: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/avalanche-at-himlung-himal-base-camp-in-nepal-leaves-10-missing/
• BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwjdvml9e897o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss