27 Now Dead After Blizzard in Nepal; Dozens Missing

Search teams rescued dozens of stranded foreign trekkers and recovered 10 more bodies today in the wake of a series of blizzards and avalanches that battered the Himalayas in central Nepal, leaving at least 27 people dead. About 70 people were still missing along or near the popular Annapurna trail, and the death toll was expected to rise. The route was filled with foreign hikers during the peak October trekking season, when the air is generally clear and cool. Many Nepalese also were on the trails because of local festivals.

Authorities said 64 foreign trekkers were rescued from the area today. Two trekkers from Hong Kong and 12 Israelis were airlifted yesterday to Katmandu, where they were being treated at a hospital. They said they survived by taking refuge in a small tea shop along the path. "I was sure I was going to die on the way to the pass because I lost my group, I lost all the people I was with and I could not see anything," said Linor Kajan, an injured Israeli who said she was stuck in waist-deep snow. "One Nepalese guide who knows the way saw me and asked me to stay with him. And he dragged me, really dragged me to the tea shop. And everybody there was really frightened." (More Nepal stories.)