Nepali rescuers on Thursday searched for the bodies of multiple climbers killed in an avalanche this week, while Italy said five citizens reported missing in a separate incident were safe.

Seven people were killed on Monday when an avalanche hit multiple expedition teams at the base camp of 5,630-metre (18,471-foot) Yalung Ri peak near Nepal's border with China.

"Mountain guides, skilled in search, have been deployed," Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks told AFP.

Crews are digging through snow, and scanning the white landscape with electronic detectors.

Sherpa said that they were searching for five bodies -- two Italians, two Nepalis and one German. The bodies of an Italian and a French citizen had already been recovered.

Survivors recounted to AFP how slabs of ice smashed into the g

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