3 Sherpa Climbers Missing After an Avalanche Swept the Guides into a Deep Crevasse on Mt. Everest

Rescuers searched on foot and by air in a helicopter but were not expected to be found, according to a local report

Three Sherpa climbers disappeared into a deep crevasse on Mt. Everest Wednesday.

The missing Nepali guides were swept into a crack in a glacier and buried by an avalanche, Reuters reports.

Rescuers on foot and in a helicopter hoped to locate them, Yubraj Khatiwada of Nepal's Department of Mountaineering told the Associated Press.

However, the climbers — identified as Lakpa Rita Sherpa, Pemba Tenzing Sherpa and Dachhiri Sherpa from Thame village of Khumbu — are not expected to be found, according to the Himalayan Times.

"Three Sherpa climbers fell into some 50 meters below in a crevasse after the ice serac damaged the climbing route," an official from the mountain's base camp told the publication.

"Aerial searches have been abandoned because of poor weather this afternoon," the official also said.

The climbers were part of a expedition organized by Imagine Nepal Treks, according to the report, which cited a Department of Tourism official.

The incident occurred Wednesday morning at the Khumbu Icefall, a glacier near the 29,032-ft. mountain's base camp, the AP reports.

The Icefall, also known as a "river of ice," is considered one of the most dangerous spots on the treacherous trek up the world's tallest mountain.

"They are buried five to six meters underneath. It's not possible to launch a [rescue] mission because the risk of an avalanche is still ongoing," Norbu Sherpa, a rescue specialist, told the Kathmandu Post.

"We have traced the spot but it's not possible to go there. The ice sheets are as big as houses. It's not possible to dig either," he explained.

Norbu clarified that the climbers didn't fall into the opening in the glacier. Instead, he explained, they were buried beneath the ice. "It's not that they fell into crevasses," he said. "They are buried under the ice masses in the Khumbu Icefall."

Lakpa T. Sherpa, a climber near the site, posted an Instagram video that captured the avalanche as the tragedy unfolded.

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The Kathmandu Post notes that the Icefall is so dangerous that even highly experienced Sherpa hikers will not attempt to traverse it during daylight hours because of sunlight, which can weaken the ice and make avalanches more likely.

They typically go in the very early morning, between 3 and 5 a.m., with the help of headlamps, according to the outlet.

In 2014, a group of 16 Sherpa guides died in an avalanche at the same location, according to the AP, which called it one of the deadliest climbing disasters on Mt. Everest.

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