Rescue teams searched a mountain in Nepal on Monday for 12 people who were swept away by an avalanche that killed at least two others amid severe weather.
The avalanche struck Mount Himlung, a 7,126-metre (23,380-foot) peak in north-central Nepal, on Sunday. Ten other people were rescued from the mountain.
All those killed or missing were Nepali nationals. They were staying at a base camp and preparing for foreign climbers who were expected to arrive to scale the peak during the autumn climbing season, which began this month.
Helicopters evacuated the 10 survivors, while the bodies of the two victims were flown to Kathmandu airport on Monday and later taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Family members and friends gathered at the hospital morgue but declined to speak to reporters.
Heavy rainfall triggered flooding and landslides in Manang district, where Mount Himlung is located, over the weekend, according to the district administration office.
The avalanche occurred as the Nepalese government warned of severe weather across the Himalayan nation.
The country's disaster management agency said 21 other people had died and five remained missing in different parts of Nepal between Thursday and Sunday.
Nepal is still recovering from devastating floods in August that swept through several villages, killing more than 1,400 people and leaving nearly 6,000 others missing.