Avalanche buries two Spanish in Nepal

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-05-15 11:21

KATHMANDU - Two Spanish mountaineers were swept away on Sunday by an avalanche while they were climbing Mt. Dhaulagiri in Nepal, the seventh highest peak in the world, The Himalayan Times reported on Tuesday.

Santiago Sagaste, who was leading a six-member Spanish team called "Club Exea Dhaulagiri Expedition", has gone missing with teammate Ricardo Valencia after an avalanche buried their camp on the way to the 8,167-meter peak, according to the daily.

A third Spanish climber, Javi Serrano, and an Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbruner, were luckier and escaped though their gear was swept away.

Meanwhile, six members of the Dhaulagiri-I Expedition-2007 scaled Mt. Dhaulagiri from north east ridge on different dates.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, these mountaineers scaled the peak on April 29 and May 1.