3 climbers swept by avalanche, missing in Nepal
A Nepalese climber lights incense during a memorial service for the 16 Nepalese Sherpa guides killed in avalanche on Mount Everest in Katmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, April 30, 2014. The April 18 avalanche was the deadliest disaster on the world’s highest mountain. AP
KATMANDU, Nepal— Nepalese officials say an avalanche has swept three climbers and they are now presumed dead on the slopes of Mount Kanchenjunga, the world’s third tallest peak.
Police official Meghraj Kadel says rescuers found no trace of an Indian climber and her two Nepalese Sherpa guides after they were hit by the avalanche at 7,300 meters (23,940 feet) on Wednesday.
The Indian was identified as 35-year-old Chanda Gayen, and her guides Temba and Dawa Wanju. They scaled Kanchenjunga on Sunday and were attempting to climb Yalung Kang, a sister peak.
In April, an avalanche hit a trail on Mount Everest, killing 16 Sherpa guides in the mountain’s worst disaster that led to the cancellation of the climbing season because many Sherpa guides refused work.
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