KATHMANDU, Oct. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- All 18 climbers, including seven French mountaineers and their 11 Nepali staff, have died in an avalanche in western Nepal last week, the state-run Radio Nepal said Tuesday.

    The radio quoted Western Regional Police Office as saying that bodies of all seven French climbers have been identified. Bodies of Nepali support staff is yet to be identified.

    Meanwhile, President of Himalayan Rescue Association Bikram Neupane, who returned to Kathmandu Tuesday after visiting northern Manang district, said a search team in the region has just informed the association of seeing a body.

    It was not known whether the body was of a French national or a Nepali.

    Neupane said it would take at least three to four hours for the members of search team to reach the place where the body is located.

    The search team is equipped with satellite phone and the government will send a helicopter to bring bodies down as soon as they hear from the search team, Neupane added.

    The 22-member expedition, led by renowned mountaineer Daniel Stolzenberg, was on its way to climb 6,981-meter-high Mount Kanguru in Manang district when it was hit by an avalanche last Thursday.

    Four Nepali porters were rescued by helicopter on Sunday. Enditem