Bodies of missing French climbers in Nepal found under snow

Kathmandu, Nov 8 (EFE).- The bodies of three French nationals, who went missing in an avalanche last week in the mountains of Nepal, were found buried under two meters of snow by search and rescue teams, officials said Monday.

Inspector Rishi Raj Dhakal of the police station at Solukhumbu district – where the incident occurred -, told EFE the bodies were recovered from the mountain on Sunday, before being airlifted to Kathmandu for a postmortem the following day.

The climbers Thomas Arfi, Gabriel Miloche and Louis Pachoud, all French nationals, were reported missing since Oct.31.

They had reportedly last made contact on Oct.26 via satellite phone from their camp, while apparently caught in an avalanche.

“The bodies were recovered on Sunday buried nearly two meters under the snow,” Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, a member of the search and rescue team mobilized by the Nepal National Mountain Guides Association, told EFE.

According to him, the bodies were retrieved after an inspection by French embassy officials at the spot.

The three young climbers were part of an eight-member expedition team that had been issued permits to climb the 6,783-meter (22,254 feet) Mt. Khangtega and the 6,423-meter Mt. Cholatse, both in the Everest region.

The climbers had split into two groups to climb the two mountains alternately, according to an official at the Department of Tourism, the government agency that issues the climbing permits. EFE

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