Rescuers were digging through ice and snow on a mountain in Nepal on Tuesday to recover the bodies of seven climbers who were killed by an avalanche a day earlier, officials said.

The avalanche pounded the base camp at Mount Yalung Ri, located at 4,900 meters (16,000 feet), on Monday morning. Snowstorms prevented rescuers from reaching the site on the day.

Improving weather allowed a helicopter to reach the base camp Tuesday and rescuers were able to begin sifting through the snow and ice.

Dolkha district's police chief said four climbers who were injured in the avalanche were rescued by the helicopter and flown to the capital, Kathmandu, for treatment.

Two French nationals were being treated for their injuries at the Era Hospital in Kathmandu.

Isabelle Solange Thaon, 54, said she lost her husband Christian Manfred in the avalanche but was lucky to have survived with another French climber, Didier Armand.

“We were lucky because we were on the left,” Thaon said from her hospital bed. “And we leaped (over the) rocks and we swam along and after we were in the snow and after someone came immediately (to help).”

Also among those killed were two Nepali mountain guides, but the identity of the remaining four was still unclear.

At least three bodies were pulled out of the snow by Tuesday afternoon, the police official said. It was not clear when they would be brought out of the mountains.

Mount Yalung Ri is a 5,600-meter (18,370-foot) peak considered suitable for novice mountaineers.

AP Video by Upendra Man Singh