(Adnkronos) – Italy’s Consul General in Calcutta, who has responsibility for Nepal, arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday following the recovery of the bodies of three Italian climbers killed in snowstorms and an avalanche in the Himalayas in recent days, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Local authorities have confirmed the deaths of three Italian mountaineers, Alessandro Caputo and Stefano Farronato, whose bodies were recovered from the Manaslu Peak (in western Nepal) and Paolo Cocco, whose body was found on Dolma Khang in northeast Nepal.
Mountaineers Marco Di Marcello and Markus Kirchler were still missing in the Yalung Ri area, according to the foreign ministry statement.
The Consul General is coordinating directly with Nepalese authorities and search teams in close collaboration with Italy’s foreign ministry, said the statement.
At least seven climbers including five foreigners and two Nepalese died after being hit by a series of avalanches in several areas of the Nepalese Himalayas over in the past week.
Communication between local authorities, rescue operation leaders and diplomatic representatives of the various countries involved is still problematic, according to the Italian foreign ministry statement.
