Search and rescue teams scouring the Nepalese mountains in army helicopters have recovered 27 bodies so far after a blizzard sparked avalanches along the popular Annapurna trail.
There are still at least 70 people reported missing and the death toll is likely to rise further said Ganga Sagar Pant of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal.
The route is 160 kilometers northwest of capital, Katmandu, and as it is peak trekking season, was filled with both international and local hikers.
The dead include four Canadian trekkers although none of the bodies have been formally identified yet.
An additional three Canadians survived another avalanche and were airlifted to a local village.
"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 Israeli trekker Linor Kajan, who said she was trapped in waist-deep snow.
