KATHMANDU: A snowstorm and avalanche in Nepal’s Himalayas has killed 17 trekkers and guides — nine foreigners and eight Nepalis — on a popular hiking route, while more than 100 others remain out of contact, officials said on Wednesday.

Severe weather triggered by the tail end of Cyclone Hudhud, which battered neighbouring India’s east coast, hit trekking groups on the Annapurna circuit as well as mountaineers trying to scale the avalanche-prone Mount Dhaulagiri in central Nepal on Tuesday.

As the weather cleared on Wednesday in the remote Mustang and Manang districts, rescuers trudging through waist-deep snow found 27 stranded trekkers, an official said.

But some 168 foreign tourists were registered to hike in the districts and authorities are now trying to track the rest of them down, said police official Ganesh Rai who is heading the rescue effort.

Two Slovakian mountaineers and three Nepalese guides went missing after an avalanche struck teams stationed at the base camp of 8,167-metre (26,795 foot) Mount Dhaulagiri on Tuesday night.

“Two Slovakian climbers and three Nepalese guides are missing at Dhaulagiri base camp after an avalanche, they were here to scale the mountain,” local official Tulsiram Bhandari told newsmen from Myagdi district.

In neighbouring Mustang, rescuers conducting helicopter sorties found twelve bodies, — two Israelis, a Pole, a Vietnamese and eight Nepalese trekkers and guides — blanketed by thick snow.

“There has been heavy snowfall in the area, up to three feet (91 centimetres),” said police official Rai.

“We have found twelve bodies in Mustang, including four foreigners — two from Israel, one from Poland and one from Vietnam,” Rai said, correcting his earlier information that two of those killed were Polish.

Rescuers, aided by a Nepal army helicopter and several others hired by trekking agencies, also found the bodies of five hikers caught in an avalanche in neighbouring Manang.

“A chopper search has located the bodies of five people, including four Canadians and an Indian, killed in an avalanche,” Rai said.

In a separate incident in Manang, three yak herders were killed in another avalanche on Tuesday while grazing their animals, district official Devendra Lamichanne said.

Another official said he hoped those trekkers still unaccounted for had simply been cut off by the blizzard and poor telecommunications.

“The phone network is not very good so we have not been able to get in touch with the missing, but we hope to find them later today,” said Mustang district official Baburam Bhandari. Injured victims were taken to local hospitals for treatment while a few with minor injuries were airlifted to Kathmandu.Details of those rescued, including their nationalities, were not known.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2014