Nine climbers killed in Nepal

An avalanche in Nepal killed at least nine climbers including a group of French citizens and other Europeans trying to scale one of the world's most deadly mountains, officials said on Sunday.

The expedition of about 25 members were near the top of the 8,156-metre (26,759 feet) Manaslu when they were hit by a wall of snow on Saturday night in one of the worst tragedies in Himalayan mountaineering in recent years.

"Most of the dead people are French," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, vice-president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, after speaking to expedition members at the base camp of the 8,156-metre (26,759 feet) Manaslu by satellite telephone.

"One or two are Spanish, one Italian, one (Nepali) Sherpa and one German."

Three climbers were thought to still be missing when rescue operations were called off for the night.

"So far, 13 people have been rescued alive, of whom five have been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment," Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, the local deputy superintendent of police, told AFP by telephone.

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