The bodies of three students who were killed by an avalanche on August 7 when climbing the 8,012-metre-high Mount Shisha Pagma in the Tibet Autonomous Region were discovered by rescuers yesterday - 12 days after they were reported missing.

The grim discovery brought to a close a tragedy which had already seen rescuers recover the bodies of two other students from the snow-capped peak.

The five students who lost their lives were all part of a 15-strong climbing party from Peking University's mountaineering club.

The other members of the team managed to scramble to safety when the avalanche occurred.

The bodies of the three missing were discovered yesterday on the west side of the mountain at 6,000 metres above sea level, between No 1 and No 2 camps.

Four of the climbing team had maintained a vigil for their missing colleagues at base camp.

Wang Dengfeng, vice-commander of the rescue team, told China Central Television that these four students had vowed not to leave until all hope of finding their friends was extinguished.

On Sunday, six members of the climbing team had travelled to Lhasa, the regional capital, and Wang expressed his gratitude towards the rescue efforts co-organized by the local governments and the China Mountaineering Association.

( China Daily August 20, 2002)