British, Swedish climbers missing in Nepal avalanche

KATHMANDU, Nov 15 (Reuters) Three foreign climbers and their sherpa guides are missing after being hit by an avalanche while trying to scale a Himalayan peak in eastern Nepal, an official said today.

The men were sleeping at a camp on the 6,812 metre (22,349 feet) Ama Dablam mountain -- 130 km east of the capital, Kathmandu -- on Monday at the time, Lok Bahadur Khatri, a tourism ministry official, told Reuters.

''The avalanche hit the camp around midnight,'' Khatri said, adding that a helicopter had been sent to the area near Mount Everest to look for the climbers.

''The pilots said they could only see something like shoes or clothes from the air but found no trace of the climbers.'' He identified the climbers as Briton Duncan Williams, 32, and Swedes Daniel Carlsson, 27, and Mikael Forsberg, 41.

Three Nepali sherpas were also missing.

British officials in Kathmandu confirmed Williams was among those missing. The Swedish Consulate General in Nepal was unavailable for comment.

The incident comes a day after four French mountaineers trying to scale a peak in central Nepal were reported missing.

Every year, thousands of foreign climbers visit Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks.

REUTERS PB RK1940