Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - Search operations for climbers who went missing on Mount Manaslu (8,156 m) in Gorkha District (west-central Nepal) continue. An avalanche that fell yesterday killed 13 people, most from Germany and France. One of the victims was Nepali; another, Alberto Magliano, was from Italy. Twelve survivors have been rescued. For Nepali authorities, three climbers are still missing, but the actual number of the missing is not clear.
For Nepal, this is the worse climbing disaster since 1995 when more than 40 people (17 foreigners) froze to death, after heavy snow falls, near Mount Everest.
At present, bad weather and frigid temperatures are hampering operations, with helicopters forcibly grounded.
As wide as six football fields, the snow bank that broke away from Mount Manaslu hit Camp 3 (6,600 m) at 3 am, catching the climbers as they slept. Most of the victims died from hypothermia inside their sleeping bags. Some 50 people from different countries were at the camp, jointed by the sane goal of reaching the summit.
Arnaud Manel, one of the survivors, said he was in a tent with two other people when large amounts of snow began to fall on it. He said he managed to break the icy tent open and get out, and then rolled for what he thought was about 200 meters (655 feet) in the snow.
"When I stopped rolling, I was neck deep in snow," said the 42-year-old surgeon. "I was only wearing a T-shirt. I couldn't breathe." However, enough of the snow around him melted to allow him to clamber out and allowed him to save a friend, but that another, buried deeper in the snow, died.
Mount Manaslu is the eighth tallest mountain in the world. It is famous among climbing enthusiasts and extreme skiers for its heavy snowfalls during monsoon season.
Autumn months are however, the most dangerous because of unpredictable weather and avalanches.
Tourist officials in Gorkha District said that 230 foreign climbers in 25 teams had booked for the autumn climb this year.
In Italy, people are mourning the death of Alberto Magliano. Originally from Trieste, the 67-year-old mountain enthusiast had become over the years one of Italy's best-known Italian climbers.
He was also the first non-professional climber to reach the summits of the tallest mountains in the seven continents.
On his website, he wrote (in Italian), "I'd like to think about my life as a journey of exploration of the most varied lands, in both geographical and cultural terms as well as in terms of general, i.e. boundless knowledge."