加德满都：尼泊尔国家登山向导协会周二（9月29日）表示，恶劣天气迫使尼泊尔在一场喜马拉雅地区雪崩后暂停搜救；此次雪崩恐酿成十多年来最严重的登山灾难。
KATHMANDU: Dire weather has forced Nepal to suspend search operations after a Himalayan avalanche caused what is feared to be the worst expedition disaster in over a decade, the National Mountain Guide Association said on Tuesday (Sep 29).
周日凌晨，雪崩席卷海拔7126米的希姆隆峰大本营以来，已寻获4具遗体，另有12人失踪。
Since the avalanche swept through the base camp of the 7,126m Himlung peak early on Sunday, four bodies have been recovered while 12 people remain missing.
“情况非常艰难，”尼泊尔国家登山向导协会主席图尔·辛格·古隆说，“搜救工作已经暂停。”
"The conditions are very challenging," said Tul Singh Gurung, president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association.
这12名失踪者均为尼泊尔工人，当时正在为日后的希姆隆峰登山活动做准备。希姆隆峰靠近中国边境，是希望开始攀登7000米级山峰的登山者热门目的地。救援队队长明玛·G·夏尔巴说，他对找到失踪者生还希望不大。
"The search has been paused". The 12 missing people are all Nepali workers preparing for later expeditions on Himlung, near the Chinese border, a popular destination for mountaineers looking to begin climbing 7,000m peaks. Rescue team leader Mingma G Sherpa said he had little hope of finding the missing alive.
“从已经寻获的遗体来看，其余人不可能生还，”他告诉法新社，“雪崩规模极其巨大，等积雪稍微融化一些，我们就可以再来。”由8名登山向导组成的救援队周日晚抵达大本营，开始搜救，并在超过4米深的积雪中挖掘。帐篷被厚厚的积雪掩埋。
"Looking at the bodies recovered, it would be impossible for the rest to survive," he told AFP. "The scale of the avalanche is massive, we can go back when the snow melts a bit." The team of eight mountain guides had reached the base camp on Sunday evening to begin the search, digging through more than 4m of snow. Tents were buried under deep snow.
周发现了两名登山向导的遗体，周一又发现两名厨房工作人员的遗体。
The bodies of two mountain guides were recovered on Sunday, and those of two kitchen staff were pulled out on Monday.
尼泊尔近年来最严重的登山灾难发生在2014年和2015年：2014年，一次雪崩在珠穆朗玛峰造成16人死亡；2015年，该峰又因地震造成18人死亡。
Nepal's worst mountaineering disasters in recent years occurred in 2014, when an avalanche killed 16 people on Everest, and in 2015, when an earthquake killed 18 people, also on Everest.
尼泊尔仍在寻找8月26日高山冰川崩塌所引发洪灾中的遇难者遗体；那场灾难造成1400多人死亡，6000多人失踪。
Nepal is still searching for bodies from devastating floods sparked by a mountain glacial collapse on Aug 26 that killed more than 1,400 people and left over 6,000 missing.
据国家灾害管理机构称，自周四以来的强降雨还引发了其他洪水和山体滑坡，至少造成21人死亡。
Heavy rain since Thursday has triggered other floods and landslides, killing at least 21 people, according to the national disaster agency.
尼泊尔境内拥有全球14座最高峰中的8座，旅游业高度依赖登山和徒步旅行。
Home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks, Nepal relies heavily on mountaineering and trekking tourism.