2 Canadians safe as death toll in Nepal blizzard and avalanche rises

WATCH: It’s still not known exactly how many Canadians are missing after a sudden blizzard and avalanche trapped dozens of trekkers in Nepal. But at least 27 people are confirmed dead, including four Canadians. Eric Sorenson has the story.

KATMANDU, Nepal – Search and rescue teams flying on army helicopters spotted the bodies of eight more trekkers killed in a series of blizzards and avalanches that have hit central Nepal in recent days, raising the death toll in the region to 27, officials said Thursday.

Canadians Jane Van Criekingen and Virginia Schwartz were initially believed to be missing, but Schwartz posted a message on her Facebook page early Thursday saying she is safe.

“We are trekking out of the avalanche danger zone and heading back down along the circuit,” wrote Schwartz. “We are now in Manang on the lower side of the pass and hope to be in Pokhara in 3-4 days.”

Schwartz’s brother, Mark, earlier told an Ottawa radio station that he had unconfirmed reports that “both Virginia and Jane are OK.”

On late Thursday, the family of Matt Adams, a Canadian from West Kelowna who had been missing for nearly a week, said that he too had been found safely.

About 70 people were still missing along or near the popular Annapurna trail, said Ganga Sagar Pant of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal, and the death toll there was expected to rise.

The route, 160 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of the capital, Kathmandu, was filled with international hikers because October is peak trekking season, when the air is clear and the weather is cool. There were also many Nepalese on the trails because of local festivals.

READ MORE: Bodies of 4 Canadians killed in Nepal avalanche, blizzard recovered

At least 12 people died when they were caught Tuesday in the Thorong La pass area in sudden blizzard, caused by the remains of a cyclone that hit India several days ago.

As the weather improved, rescue workers recovered the bodies of four hikers – two Poles, an Israeli and a Nepali – from the Thorong La pass area. Two trekkers from Hong Kong and 12 Israelis, were airlifted on Wednesday to Kathmandu, where they were being treated at the Military Hospital.

The blizzard appeared to contribute to an avalanche Wednesday that killed at least eight people in Phu village in the neighbouring Manang district, including an Indian and four Canadian trekkers, said government official Devendra Lamichane. Three villagers were also killed in the avalanche; their bodies were recovered Wednesday.

Digging out the foreigners’ bodies will take days, he said. There are no roads there and the only way up is to trek in the snow-covered grounds to nearby villages. Three Canadian trekkers who survived the avalanche have been airlifted to nearby village.

Five climbers remained missing in a separate avalanche some 75 kilometres to the west, at the base camp for Mount Dhaulagiri. The climbers, three Slovakians and three Nepali guides, were preparing to scale the 8,167-meter (26,800-foot) -high peak, the world’s seventh tallest, said Gyanedra Shrestha of Nepal’s mountaineering department.

WATCH: Survivors of a blizzard that hit the Thorong La pass area in Nepal were recounting their survival stories on Thursday.

Baburam Bhandari, the chief government administrator in the area, said dozens of people were still stranded on the route and were out of contact because of poor communication.

An avalanche in April just above the base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepalese guides, the deadliest single disaster on the mountain. Climate experts say rising global temperatures have contributed to avalanches in the Himalayas.