Rescue teams in Nepal search for 12 missing after avalanche kills 4

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KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescue teams on Monday searched for a dozen people swept away by an avalanche that killed at least four on a Nepalese mountain during severe weather.

Rescuers from the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, which is leading the efforts, said they recovered two more bodies on Monday in addition to two others who were found on Sunday. Twelve are missing.

Eight experienced mountain guides from the association took advantage of improving weather to dig through the snow that had covered tents at base camp.

Ten people were rescued from Mount Himlung, a 7,126-meter (23,380-foot) peak in north-central Nepal, after the avalanche hit on Sunday.

All those killed or missing were Nepali nationals. They were at base camp preparing for foreign clients to arrive and climb the peak during the Autumn climbing season that began this month, when they were swept away.

Helicopters brought down the remains to Kathmandu airport. Family and friends at a hospital morgue did not comment.

Flooding and landslides in the Manang district, where the mountain is located, were caused by heavy rainfall, the district administration office said. The avalanche had issued warnings for severe weather across the entire Himalayan nation.

Nepal’s disaster management agency said 21 other people have been killed and five more are missing in different parts of the country between Thursday and Sunday.

Nepal is recovering from devastating flooding in August that swept several villages, leaving more than 1,400 people dead and nearly 6,000 others missing.