Hopes are fading for 40 missing in Nepal disaster

Rescue team members carry a victim of an avalanche before they airlift the body from Thorong La pass area, in Nepal. AP Photo

Alan Martin

Hopes faded last night for survivors of one of Nepal's worst mountain disasters as villagers joined an intensive search by troops and government officials for as many as 40 people missing after an unseasonal blizzard killed 39.

More than 500 people have been rescued from a route popular with foreign adventure tourists that circles Annapurna, the world's tenth-tallest peak. The survivors included 230 foreigners.