KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 6
The search and recovery operation for five climbers buried in a massive avalanche on Yalung Ri Peak in Rolwaling has entered a critical stage, with rescuers yet to locate any bodies despite intensive digging and the use of detection devices.
Senior IFMGA mountain guide Pasang Kidar Sherpa, who has been leading ground operations since November 5, said the team has dug more than seven meters into compacted snow and ice but found no substantial evidence.
"We have been searching continuously, but apart from a few pieces of equipment such as crampons, we haven't recovered anything that could help locate the missing climbers," Sherpa said via satellite phone from the site above 5,300 meters. "Snow and ice are extremely hard to dig through," he added.
The four-member Nepali rescue team, led by IFMGA/NNMGA guide Riten Jangbu Sherpa, includes IFMGA/NNMGA guides Pasang Kidar Sherpa, Chhiring Sonam Lama, and aspirant guide Pasang Temba Sherpa. They are searching for five missing climbers, three foreigners and two Nepalis - Italian-Canadian Marco Di Marcello, Italian Markus Kirchler, German Jakob Schreiber, and Nepali guides Padam Tamang and Mere Karki, who went missing in the November 3 avalanche.
Adding international support, two international high-altitude rescue experts, Bruno Joseph Jelk of Switzerland and Michele Cucchi of Italy, along with Nepali IFMGA rescuer Chhiring Pande Bhote, departed from Kathmandu on today to join the search team at Yalung Ri Base Camp. They arrived aboard Simrik Air and Heli Everest helicopters, equipped with advanced detection systems.
Bruno Jelk, the president of the Terrestrial Commission of the International Committee for Alpine Rescue (IKAR-CISA), is widely recognized as one of the world's foremost rescue specialists. He has previously conducted RECCO rescue training in Nepal. Michele Cucchi is a veteran alpine guide and high-altitude rescue instructor from Italy.
Meanwhile, Riccardo Dalla Costa, Consul General of Italy in Kolkata, responsible for Nepal, arrived in Kathmandu on November 5 to coordinate rescue and repatriation efforts with Nepali authorities. The Italian Foreign Ministry (Farnesina) stated that communication in the region remains difficult due to severe weather and terrain conditions.
Earlier, the bodies of two climbers, Italian national Paolo Cocco and French mountaineer Christian Andre Manfredi, were recovered and airlifted to Kathmandu for post-mortem examination at the Teaching Hospital.
The avalanche struck near the summit of Yalung Ri (5,630m) on the morning of November 3 as the team was ascending a steep ice slope. At least seven climbers were buried, and five others were rescued with injuries.
