Athens (AFP) - Nine Greek climbers who were robbed by a sherpa guide in Kathmandu told Sunday of their lucky escape after heading home from Nepal the day before an earthquake triggered the deadliest disaster in Mount Everest's history.

"We arrived in Kathmandu last week and there we discovered that our sherpa had disappeared with the money we had given him," Nerit Sophoclis Paitis, one of the climbers told Nerit, Greek public television.

"We reported the incident to the Nepali authorities then decided to return to Greece on Friday, the eve of the earthquake. In the end we were lucky, but we have friends at the (Everest) camps who are living through very difficult moments," he added.

The group was comprised of nine Greeks and nine Indians, all of whom got out safely.

Saturday's 7.8-magnitude quake in Nepal killed more than 2,500 people, the worst disaster to hit the impoverished Himalayan nation in more than 80 years.

Eighteen of the victims died after an avalanche at the Everest base camp, with another 60 injured.

Powerful aftershocks rocked Nepal Sunday.