Everest avalanche captured on video
* Warning: profanity is used in this video *
A HUGE AVALANCHE that hit Mt Everest Base Camp in the wake of the Nepal earthquake was captured on film by German climber Jost Kobusch.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake, whose epicentre was 77km northwest of Kathmandu, and almost 170km away from Mt Everest, was felt by the climbers on the world’s highest peak before the avalanche hit. The death toll has reached 3200 in total, but with communication down in many remote areas, this number is expected to increase.
April-June is the peak climbing season at Everest and an estimated 1000 foreign climbers and Sherpa were at Base Camp or on the mountain when the avalanche hit.
The upper reaches of Base Camp bore the brunt of the ferocious wind pressure and subsequent avalanche.
The deadly Everest avalanche, 25 April 2015. Credit: AFP PHOTO/Roberto SCHMIDT
Deadliest day on Mt Everest
Current figures confirm that 19 people were killed and another 60 injured in the avalanche, including one Australian from the Dreamers’ Destination Treks and Expeditions. The death toll eclipses the 16 who were killed by an ice fall during last year’s climbing season, making this the deadliest event in Everest history.
Queenslander Alyssa Azar, 18, attempting to become the youngest Australian to climb Everest, is reportedly safe. Sir Edmund Hillary’s son Peter was trekking on Mt Everest with a group of Kiwis but is also reportedly safe.
At least six helicopters have landed at Everest Base Camp to airlift the severely injurered. There is a group of climbers caught at Camp I, who were above the avalanche and are uninjured. However, the path back down the Khumbu Glacier has been destroyed, so they are receiving air-lifted equipment to begin the task of establishing a new, safe route down.
Everest Base Camp in the moments after the avalanche hit. Credit: AFP PHOTO/Roberto SCHMIDT
