Nepal disaster toll rises to 39

18 October 2014 Last updated at 10:15

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Andrew North reports on how rescue teams are still looking for survivors

At least 39 climbers died on a key Nepali hiking route after it was hit by major snowstorms and avalanches earlier this week, officials say.

Helicopters are helping rescuers high in the Himalayas as they search on for missing trekkers, with fears that more bodies lie beneath the snow.

A total of 289 people have been rescued from the mountain ranges in what is Nepal's worst-ever trekking disaster.

A government spokesman said the priority was to rescue stranded people.

Tourism ministry official Suresh Acharya told BBC Nepali that helicopters were scouring snowy areas as high as 5,790m (19,000ft).

One of the main trekking routes - the Thorung La pass, the high point of the Annapurna Circuit - is now "relatively safe" after the army cleared snow, he said.

"We are told that there are around still 20-25 persons in the area and they are safe," the official added.

The BBC's Andrew North in Nepal says that it is still unclear which climbers have been accounted for and which are still missing.

The task of the authorities is made more complicated because there are thousands of climbers in Nepal at this time of the year.

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Paul Sherridan: "I looked at a boy and his face was frozen"

Rescuers have only limited resources and most of the missing and dead are believed to be at the maximum heights that helicopters can reach.

Nepalese, Israeli, Canadian, Indian, Slovak and Polish trekkers are among the dead.

Many survivors have been left with severe frostbite and will have to have limbs amputated.

Nepal earns huge revenues from the tens of thousands of trekkers and climbers who flock to the Himalayas every year.

However, it remains a very poor country and the authorities here have struggled to cope with the scale of this disaster, our correspondent says.

This has been a particularly deadly year for Nepal's trekking and mountaineering industry.

An avalanche on Mount Everest in April killed 16 Sherpa guides and resulted in a significant drop in the number of expeditions to the world's highest peak.

The latest disaster comes at the height of the trekking period.

What is the Annapurna Circuit?

• Roughly 241km (150 miles), takes around three weeks to complete
• Described as "the best long distance trek in the world"
• Known as the "apple pie" circuit due to the baked goods offered by tea houses along the route
• Ascends to 5,416m (17,776ft) at the Thorung La Pass
• Opened to tourists in 1977 after conflicts between guerrillas and the Nepalese army were resolved
• Circuit passes Mount Annapurna, world's 10th highest mountain and one of the most dangerous

Nepal blizzards: Survival guide

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