The death toll has reached 25 after the discovery of additional bodies in snowstorm affected areas of Mustang, Manang and Myagdi on Thursday.

Co-ordinator of TAAN’s search and rescue department, Keshav Pandey said, in course of search and rescue operation, ten bodies were discovered in Kangla-Pass area of Manang district on Thursday, October 16, 2014.

The bodies could not be recovered as the location was difficult to reach, Pandey as told to nepalnews.

According to Pandey, 117 people were rescued from Tilicho area of the district on Thursday.

However, Chief District Officer of Manang, Devendra Lamichhane says that the government cannot yet list the ten as dead until their bodies are recovered.

According to Lamichhane, 145 people were rescued today, of which 78 were foreign passport holders and 67 Nepali citizens. The number of people rescued, with this, has reached around 262. All rescued people are in a stable condition, authorities say.

 

This is perhaps the biggest snowstorm related incident in the Himalayan region in which twenty five people, both Nepali nationals and foreign tourists, were killed.

In September, 2012, 18 people had lost their lives in an avalanche at Mt Manaslu while 16 died in a similar incident at Mt Everest Base Camp in April, 2014.

However, former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association Zangbu Sherpa says the current tragic situation is an outcome of human negligence and not a natural calamity.

Since a lot of people including those without proper training and experience in the trekking-mountaineering sector are involved in the sector, such damages are bound to occur due to their inexperience and carelessness, Sherpa adds.

Though this particular episode was caused by human-error, it can be looked upon as a lesson for the improvement of the sector, Sherpa says.