The death toll in a blizzard that engulfed trekkers on a popular hiking route in Nepal rose by nine on Saturday to 39, as a helicopter search spotted more bodies stranded in the rugged, snow-covered Himalayan terrain.
Sixty more people were rescued from the Annapurna trail, a three-week route popular with foreign adventure tourists that circles the world's tenth-tallest mountain, bringing the total saved to 371. Dozens more were still missing.
"We have spotted nine new bodies today," said Govinda Pathak, police head in the district of Mustang. "We could not retrieve them because of bad weather conditions and snowfall. I can confirm that the toll is 39 now."