▲ Near Annapurna avalanche accident site in Nepal where two missing bodies of Koreans were found


Two dead bodies of four Korean teachers who were lost in an avalanche in Annapurna, Nepal in January were discovered by residents on the 25th, the 100th day of disappearance.

Foreign authorities, including the Korean Embassy in June, and the Chungnam Office of Education said on the 26th, "The local search captain who had been monitoring the scene at 3 pm on the 25th of the local time discovered two bodies."

Immediately after the body was discovered, the day was dark and it rained, so the Nepalese military police and local residents went to the body on the morning of the 26th.

The Nepalese army even assisted in entering and retreating helicopters.

Immediately after the body was recovered, the Chungnam Office of Education said, "The two bodies were identified as one male teacher and one female teacher," and said, "I confirmed my identity through the passports from the found two bodies."

The Chungnam Office of Education added, however, that it is difficult to reveal specific identities at the request of the family.

The recovered body will be transported by helicopter to nearby National Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, the capital, on the afternoon of the 26th.

However, it was reported that the schedule could be delayed due to poor weather near the accident site.

Officials from the Chungnam Office of Education and a missing family from Pokhara are also planning to move to Kathmandu and check oil products.

The embassy of June will have the consulate in charge at the teaching hospital to provide the necessary consular assistance.

Two bodies were reportedly discovered near the valley about 70 to 80 meters from the site of the avalanche accident.

The accident occurred on a narrow road winding between mountains and valleys, and snow and ice from avalanches pushed down the roadside valley.

A mountain climber who knows the situation well, explained, "It seems that the body has been pushed down during an avalanche."

Local police and residents are conducting additional searches centering on the area where the body was found.

"The military is expanding the search to find the missing," said the climber.

"I know 30 to 40 search personnel have been put into the accident," said Arjun Podel, Secretary-General of the Korea-Nepal Trekking Tourism Association.

According to the Chungnam Office of Education, the four missing persons are teachers of Aunt (56 · male), Choi (37 · female), Kim (52 ​​· female), and Jeongmo (59 · male).

The four of them disappeared in an avalanche with three Nepali guides (including one from another group) while descending from the Himalayan Annapurna Deuraly mountain hut (3,230m above sea level) on January 17th.

The body of a Nepali guide from another group was already discovered in late February, and the body of a Nepali accompanied by a Korean was discovered on the 22nd.

The South Korean rescue team and the Nepalese military police, which started shortly after the accident, conducted large-scale search operations, but suffered from weather deterioration.

The avalanche that led to the enormous amount of snow and ice at the scene of the accident was another obstacle to the search.

Eventually, the search was temporarily suspended on January 24th.

Afterwards, civilian rescue experts from Nepal and Nepalese personnel from the KT Information and Communication Technology (ICT) rescue team attempted to search, but did not succeed.

Then, in April, as the snow began to melt, missing people were discovered one after another.

(Photo = Reporter Lee Yong-ho, reporter from Nepal, People and Mountain, Yonhap News)