An avalanche has swept through a camp on Mount Yalung Ri in Nepal, killing five foreign climbers and two Nepali guides, officials said.

Shailendra Thapa, an armed police force spokesperson, said five other people had been hurt at the base camp, located at 4,900 metres (16,070ft).

The nationalities and identities of the foreign climbers were yet to be officially confirmed, but local media reported that three were US citizens, one was Canadian and one Italian.

The weather has been deteriorating since last week in Nepal, with snowstorms reported on the mountains.

Rescuers were reaching the site on foot. A rescue helicopter attempted to reach the site but bad weather forced it to turn back. Thapa said it would try again on Tuesday at dawn.

Mount Yalung Ri is a 5,600-metre peak. It is considered a mountain for beginners with no previous experience in climbing high mountains.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 14 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest. Spring is the most popular climbing season, when weather is favourable on those tall peaks.

However, hundreds of foreign climbers come to climb smaller peaks during the autumn months between the rainy monsoon months and winter.