Avalanche sweeps down Everest

Avalanche sweeps down Everest.

Twelve sherpas were killed and three are missing on the slopes of Everest after they were swept away by an ice avalanche in the worst single accident on the world’s highest mountain since records began in 1922.
 

The Sherpa guides had gone to fix ropes for other climbers when the avalanche struck an area known as the “popcorn field” for its bulging chunks of ice at about 6:30 a.m. An injured survivor told his relatives the path up the mountain was unstable just before the avalanche struck at an elevation just below 21,000 feet (6,400 meters).

Dipendra Paude, Nepal's tourism ministry spokesman, told the Telegraph the men were hit by a “huge avalanche” at 6.30am on Friday as they were fixing ropes for their paying climbers at 19,400 feet - more than 6,500 feet below the “death zone” where most accidents happen.

Four survivors were injured badly enough to require airlifting to a hospital in Katmandu. One arrived during the day, and three taken to the foothill town of Lukla could be evacuated Saturday. Others with less serious injuries were being treated at base camp.

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