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Number killed in Nepal snowstorm rises to 39

Officials said trekkers left stranded in the region were safe and well
Officials said trekkers left stranded in the region were safe and well

Rescue efforts are under way to recover the bodies of at least 39 people who were killed in a major snowstorm in Nepal's Himalayas.

Nepalese army helicopters circled the upper reaches of the popular Annapurna Circuit trekking region to locate bodies.

Meanwhile, officials flew in a team of experts from Kathmandu to assist with retrieval.

Officials said trekkers left stranded in the region were safe and well.

Tuesday's unseasonal storm, which hit at the height of the trekking season triggering avalanches, caught hikers unaware on their way up to an exposed high mountain pass, and killed at least 17 tourists.

"We understand that all remaining trekkers in the region are safe," said Binay Acharya of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN), an industry body organising rescue efforts.

"We have not received any further calls for rescue or for information about stranded people," Acharya told AFP.

Emergency workers have so far rescued 385 people from the affected area, according to police.

"Since Wednesday, we have rescued 385 people, including 180 foreigners," said police official Harikrishna KC.

Rescuers yesterday recovered the body of a Nepalese porter, taking the death toll to 32, including 24 hikers, guides and porters on the trekking circuit, three yak herders as well as five climbers on a mountain in the area.

Thousands of people head to the Annapurna Circuit every October, when weather conditions are usually clear.

However, the region has seen unusually heavy snowfall this week sparked by Cyclone Hudhud, which slammed into India's east coast on Sunday.

The disaster prompted Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala to announce plans to set up a weather warning system across the mountainous country, which relies heavily on tourism revenues from climbing and trekking.