Trekker describes frozen bodies and crowded shack refuge as likely death toll on Nepal mountain route is put at more than 30

Terrified young trekkers passed scores of frozen bodies as they fought their way through shoulder-deep snow to reach safety after a storm hit a high Himalayan pass.

The death toll from the unexpected storm, amid the world’s highest mountains in Nepal, is not known but appears to be more than 30. With between 10 and 50 walkers still missing – official estimates vary – the losses are expected to rise. Ganga Sagar Pant, chief executive of the Trekking Agencies Association Nepal, said there had never before been “a disaster like this one”.

It is likely to once again focus attention on the mountain sports industry in Nepal, still shaken after the deaths of 16 sherpas in an avalanche on Everest in April.

Speaking after being evacuated by helicopter to a Kathmandu hospital, Maya, a 21-year-old Israeli, described appalling scenes of confusion and fear as temperatures plunged and lightly-equipped walkers found themselves trapped at more than 5,000 metres (nearly 17,000ft) on the popular trekking route known as the Annapurna circuit on Tuesday.

Maya, who asked for her full name to be withheld, was among 13 Israelis evacuated from the massif on Wednesday.

“I am looking at pictures of my friends in my camera. One day we were all just hanging out, the next they were dying in the snow. This is just young people, in their 20s, happy people,” she said.

Little had prepared trekkers on the route for the sudden storm, caused by the tail end of a cyclone that had moved west across northern India.

Trekking has grown rapidly in popularity in Nepal, offering an apparently easy way to enjoy stunning peaks. The three-week route circling Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain in the world, has long been one of the most popular treks. October is peak season and thousands of trekkers throng narrow paths, sleeping and eating in the many small hotels established to serve their needs.

Though details are still vague it appears that about 100 trekkers left a guest house, sited at 4,800 metres, for the three-hour climb of about 700 metres to the top of a pass known as Thorong La, the highest point on the 200-mile circuit.

Some people had hired porters and guides, others carried their own baggage. Leaving at dawn, all aimed to cross the pass and descend to the village of Muktinath by nightfall.

“We left at 5.30am and it was snowing but the guides said it was OK, then on the way it just turned into the biggest storm ever,” Maya said. “I just couldn’t see anything at all. It took us five hours and we got to the top of the path and into a small cabin there.”

The shack was already packed with frightened trekkers. One concern was potentially lethal altitude sickness, caused by lack of oxygen. Another was the intense cold. Maya and others were already suffering hypothermia. Tempers frayed as the walkers, porters and guides jostled for space.

“We had to decide. Everybody was saying if you stay you are going to die. Lots of people went out, trying to get down to Muktinath, so did some of my friends. The guys who ran the tea house asked for money from us to guide us out then disappeared,” Maya said.

With her group she stayed for 20 hours as the storm blew around the site. They huddled to stay warm and gave a sleeping bag to the porter of another group who had acute hypothermia.

The Annapurna circuit has a reputation as an easy “entry-level” trek and many of those who attempt it have little or no experience of high mountains. Most of those caught on Thorong La appear to have been young tourists with limited cold weather gear.

“This is the most easy trek, the most touristy one. We didn’t have much equipment, and we just dropped our bags and kept going through the storm,” said Maya, who suffered frostbite.

Ganga Sagar Pant criticised authorities for failing to take precautions following warnings that the cyclone was approaching.

But there was little that anyone could do to help those stranded on the high pass. Scores of other trekkers were sheltering on the approaches to the pass, having turned back as the storm came in. They too were trapped.

Eventually Maya and six friends decided to try to reach safety. At 8am on Wednesday they left the cabin. “We couldn’t see the way. There’s no path. There’s 150cm of snow. Then we were walking between the bodies and bags, and we could see our dead friends and the bodies of the guides.

“I don’t know how many, twenties of them. They are buried under the snow. It will be very difficult to find them. It was horrible, a horror,” she said.

The group were finally able to call their embassy for assistance and were evacuated by helicopter.

Poor weather and darkness forced authorities to call off rescue efforts late afternoon on Thursday, shortly after 10 more bodies were brought down from the Thorong La area.

The storm caused avalanches elsewhere in the region. One on Wednesday killed at least eight people, including one Indian and four Canadian trekkers, in Phu village, in Manang district. Five climbers died at a base camp about 30 miles to the west of Annapurna when snow buried their tents.

Maya said she now hoped to return to Israel to go to her friends’ funerals. “I want to be with their families,” she said.