Tragedy in Nepal, five Italians among the victims; nine climbers died in two separate accidents in the Himalayas.

Local authorities confirm the discovery of Paolo Cocco's body. Alessandro Caputo and Stefano Farronato were also killed after being caught in a snowstorm while climbing Mount Panbari.

A new tragedy on the Himalayan peaks of Nepal. Five Italian mountaineers are among the nine victims of two separate accidents that occurred between Friday and Monday, caused by snow storms e avalanches which overwhelmed several groups of mountaineers engaged in expeditions at extreme altitudes.

According to local authorities, Alessandro Caputo and Stefano Farronato sThey died while attempting to climb Mount Panbari, 6.887 meters, in western Nepal. The two were no contact from October 31st, surprised by a heavy snowfall while they were at the Field 1, at 5.000 meters above sea level.
The Farnesina confirmed their deaths, specifying that local authorities found their bodies and informed their families.

Caputo, ski instructor in St. Moritz, he was 27 years old; Farronato, forestry technician from Bassano del Grappa, Was experienced mountaineer with 18 expeditions behind him. With them there was Walter Perlino, veterinarian of Pinerolo and expedition leader, who was saved by chance: an illness had forced him to stay at base camp. It was he who raised the alarm after lost radio contact with his comrades.
“My husband's idea was to reach his companions in the following days", the survivor's wife says, Gloriana Salvai. “He always has maintained radio contact with the other two until Sunday night, when they were in the tent in the snowstorm. On Monday he raised the alarm and participated in the search. The tents were gone, the camp was buried in snow. Then the two bodies were found.”

In the second accident, over 5.600 meters of quota on the Yalung Ri Peaka whirlpool bath, Avalanche overwhelmed a group of twelve climbers, causing seven dead, among which three Italians: Paul Cocco, Marco Di Marcello e Markus Kirchler.
At the moment only the body of Cocco, a photographer from Abruzzo, has been found of Fara San Martino. It had also been deputy mayor of the country. The news was confirmed by the mayor, Antonio Tavani, who informed the family.

The other deceased members of the group are two Nepalese guides, Padam Tamang e Mere Karki, a German, and a Frenchman. Four climbers, two Nepalese and two French, were rescued and airlifted to Kathmandu.
“I saw all seven bodies,” he told AFP Phurba Tenjing Sherpa, responsible for the organization Dreamers Destination, who had supervised the expedition.

The Nepalese authorities, with the support of the Italian Consulate in Calcutta and Honorary Consulate in Kathmandu, remain in contact with the Farnesina and with the families of their compatriots.
In the official statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed condolences for the victims and it was announced that the search is continuing to exclude the presence of further missing persons.