Tragedy in Nepal: 'Little hope for the two missing'

The other accident, however, is an avalanche that on Monday swept away several mountaineers on Mount Yalung Ri, a 5,600 metre peak: in this second tragedy, according to the local newspaper The Himalayan Times, seven other mountaineers died, including three Italians, namely photographer Paolo Cocco, biologist Marco Di Marcello and Markus Kirchler (the latter two are still missing from the Italian authorities).

The death of Cocco and Di Marcello, both from Abruzzo, was confirmed by the president of the Abruzzo region, Marco Marsilio.

As for Alessandro Caputo and Stefano Farronato, hopes were extinguished on Tuesday morning, when the Farnesina confirmed their deaths. The Foreign Ministry explained that contact with them had been lost on 31 October and that the two Italians had been caught in heavy snowfall at Camp 1, 5,000 metres above sea level. The alarm had been raised by expedition leader Valter Pellino, who had remained at base camp due to an illness.

As for the avalanche on Yalung Ri, it swept away several mountaineers. According to The Himalayan Times, in addition to the three Italians, the victims were the German climber Jakob Schreiber, the Frenchman Christian Andre Manfredi and the two Nepalese mountain guides Padam Tamang and Mere Karki. Rescue operations were also complicated by the adverse weather conditions. "The two Italian mountaineers Cocco and Marcello, together with the Nepalese guide Padam Tamang, were members of an expedition organised by Dreamers Destination Treks. German mountaineer Schreiber and Italian climber Kirchler were part of a separate team from Wilderness Outdoors, while French hiker Manfredi was with Yatri Treks,' the newspaper reported.

Paolo Cocco, 41, had been deputy mayor of Fara San Martino, in the province of Chieti. With him had gone Marco Di Marcello, a 37-year-old biologist from Teramo. "The news that Paolo and Marco were found dead deeply saddens us," said Marsilio, "Abruzzo loses two passionate young men of extraordinary human value.

The current mayor of Fara San Martino told LaPresse that he had been notified by Paolo Cocco's brother, whom he recalled as saying that he 'always took on the most fascinating challenges, like this one he was experiencing'. Meanwhile, the Italian consul in Calcutta, who is also responsible for Nepal, is reportedly on his way to Kathmandu and is in constant contact with the families of those involved and the local authorities.

The Consulate General in Calcutta, temporarily stationed in Nepal, has received confirmation that the Milan agency and the Nepalese agency were able to communicate with the group of five hikers from the province of Como with whom they had not been in contact for days. The compatriots reported that they were well and would continue with their programme, returning to Kathmandu on 8 November. This was announced by the Farnesina.