News Digest

At least 10 killed in Everest avalanche triggered by Nepal quake

At least 10 people have been reported killed after an earthquake triggered a “huge avalanche” near the Everest Base Camp. A Nepal tourism official said part of the Everest base camp was buried. Images from Everest (pictured) showed belongings scattered on the ground and snow covering tents. Romanian mountaineer Alex Gavan tweeted: “Everest base camp huge earthquake then huge avalanche from (Mount) Pumori. Running for life from my tent. Unhurt. Many many people up the mountain.” Daniel Mazur, another climber, said that the camp had been “severely damaged”.

We don’t have the details yet, but 10 have been reported dead so far, including foreign climbers.

Nepal tourism official Gyanendra Kumar Shrestha

Captain Tim Bradshaw, who is leading a British Army team climbing the world’s highest peak, told Sky News his tent started to “rock and move” as the earthquake hit. “Then almost like thunder huge boulders started to break around us from the side of the mountain and roll down towards the bottom, towards base camp,” he said. Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association said that the avalanche apparently happened between the Khumbu Icefall, a rugged area of collapsed ice and snow, and the base camp. Hundreds of people are feared dead in Nepal after the magnitude 7.9 earthquake toppled buildings.