Nepal Annapurna: Search ends for surviving trekkers
Rescue
teams in Nepal say that there are now no trekkers left stranded after
completing their search for survivors of a devastating Himalayan storm.
The focus now is on recovering bodies buried in the snow, a government spokesman told the BBC.It is unclear how many people may still be missing in the country's worst-ever trekking disaster.
At least 39 people are known to have died, and nearly 400 people have been rescued from the Annapurna trail.
It is the fifth day that Nepalese army and private helicopters have been searching the trail.
Officials say the rescue effort grew harder on Sunday because of worsening weather.
Many survivors are severely frostbitten
At the height of the storm, climbers endured an almost complete white-out
The BBC's Andrew North in Kathmandu says that in addition to
finding bodies, the authorities are eager to improve the flow of
information on those caught up in the disaster. There are currently three different lists of the dead and survivors, being run by the army, the home ministry and Nepal's trekking association, and some people may have been counted twice. The authorities say they now want to create a single list.
Nepalese, Japanese, Israeli, Canadian, Indian, Slovak, Vietnamese and Polish trekkers are said to be among the dead.
Many survivors have been left with severe frostbite and will have to have limbs amputated.
A trekking expert told the BBC that the storm, which struck on Wednesday, was the worst in a decade, and saw up to 1.8m (5.9ft) of snowfall in 12 hours.
