Nepal sends chopper to search for 3 Japanese climbers, their Sherpa guide caught in avalanche

Chopper searches for 3 Japanese climbers in Nepal

KATMANDU, Nepal — A rescue helicopter is searching the slopes of a mountain in central Nepal for three Japanese climbers and their Nepalese guide who were swept away by an avalanche earlier this week.

The four were attempting to climb the 26,790-foot (8,167-meter) peak of Mount Dhaulagiri and have been missing since Tuesday.

Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world.

Chief of Nepal’s mountaineering department Baburam Bhandari said the helicopter was sent early in the morning to the mountain. There has been no sign of the four so far.

The Japanese are Osamu Tanabe, 49, Toshio Yamamoto, 36, and Daisuke Honda, 32, all from Tokyo. The Sherpa guide is Pasang Gyelu.