At least 12 Nepalese climbing guides died after an avalanche struck Mount Everest today, with three people still missing.

Nepal Tourism Ministry official Krishna Lamsal said rescue workers had pulled out 12 bodies from under mounds of snow and ice and were searching for the three missing guides.

Two Sherpas who were injured were taken by helicopter to hospitals in Nepal’s capital, Katmandu.

The avalanche occurred at around 6.45am at an altitude of about 19,000 feet in an area known as the “popcorn field” which lies on the route into the treacherous Khumbu icefall.

The accident underscores the huge risks taken by Sherpa guides, who carry tents, bring food supplies, repair ladders and fix ropes to help foreign climbers summit the 29,029-foot peak successfully.

More than 300 people have died on Everest since the first successful climb by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.