All nine members of a climbing expedition have been killed after they were caught in a deadly snowstorm on a Himalayan peak in Nepal.

A group of five South Korean mountaineers and four Nepali guides were at the base camp of Mount Gurja when the storm struck overnight, police said on Saturday.

Kim Chang-ho, from South Korea, who is the fastest person to reach the summits of the world's 14 highest mountains without extra oxygen, is believed by local media to be among the dead.

Kim Chang-ho (pictured) from South Korea, who is a record-breaking climber, is among those believed to be dead, local media reports

Police said local villagers spotted the bodies on the lying slopes of the mountain peak after the storm hit.

One climber was initially reported missing, but officials have now confirmed that they were at the camp when the deadly storm hit and are believed to have also perished.

A rescue helicopter confirmed seeing bodies scattered in the ruins of the camp but were unable to retrieve them due to the strong winds and icy conditions.

Helicopter pilot Siddartha Gurung described the scene of total destruction with the tents flattened and the climber's bodies scattered across the area.

The nine climbers were caught in a viscous snowstorm that hit the base camp of Mount Gurja in the Nepalese mountains

He said: 'Everything is gone, all the tents are blown apart.'

Chhiring Dhenduk Bhote, a member of the search team, told Sky News: 'Our team went and found that it wasn’t possible to land. We’ll go again tomorrow.'

It is said to be one of the deadliest mountaineering tragedies to hit the country for a number of years.

The South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement: 'A mountain expedition of five South Korean nationals and four foreigners were swept off by strong winds at the base camp during their climb to Mount Gurja. (They) fell off a cliff and died.'

The remote area is difficult to reach by foot and is a treacherous landscape of icy cliff edges

The group were reported missing after expedition organisers raised the alarm when they lost contact with the group for nearly 24 hours.

Wangchu Sherpa, managing director of Trekking Camp Nepal, who organised the expedition, said: 'After the climbers were out of contact since yesterday we sent people from the village and a helicopter to search for them.'

The climbers had been waiting for the bad weather to clear so they could begin their climb on the dangerous Himalayan peak.

The remote area is difficult to reach by foot and is a treacherous landscape of icy cliff edges, making it demanding to scale for even the most experienced of climbers.

Tourism Ministry official Rameshwar Niraula said: 'Rescuers will try to recover the bodies on Sunday.'

Mount Gurja sits in Nepal's Annapurna region and is rarely climbed because of it's dangerous conditions

The storm is the deadliest incident to hit Nepal's mountaineering industry since 18 people were killed at the Mount Everest base camp in 2015 in an avalanche triggered by a powerful earthquake.

The previous year, 16 Sherpas were killed on Everest when an avalanche swept through the Khumbu Icefall.

The area lies about 216 km northwest of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains including Mount Everest, and the autumn climbing season is now at its peak.

Mount Gurja sits in Nepal's Annapurna region and is rarely climbed because of the dangerous conditions. No-one has stood on it's summit since 1996.