At least 14 people have died and several more were injured after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake sparked a massive avalanche on Mount Everest. According to several reports, up to 1,000 climbers were stationed in and around base camp when the avalanche occurred. April and May are the most popular months for climbing Everest because of the relatively calm weather conditions.
Climbers took to social media to update conditions on the world’s highest peak.
A Massive earthquake just hit Everest. Basecamp has been severely damaged. Our team is caught in camp 1. Please pray for everyone.
— Daniel Mazur (@danielmazur) April 25, 2015
Aftershock! #Everest team is in camp 1, hanging on. #Icefall route destroyed.
— Daniel Mazur (@danielmazur) April 25, 2015
It appears most of the damage was done at the Khumbu Icefall, the main route between basecamp and Camp 1. As one climber noted, had this happened one week earlier, the “consequence would have been catastrophic” as hundreds of climbers are higher up on the mountain above the avalanche.
Sadly it appears the body count may rise as rescuers from both Nepal and India get to the scene.
At least 13 bodies have been evacuated from an Everest base camp on Saturday following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. The Indian Army’s Everest Expedition evacuated 13 bodies of foreign mountaineers who were preparing for the summit, says Indian army spokesman Col. Rohan Anand. Separately, Dr. Nima Namgyal, a doctor with a leading expedition on an Everest base camp, tells CNN he has seen 14 dead bodies so far and that they are mainly foreign nationals.
Google executive Dan Fredinburg was among those killed.
