Search continues for scores of other villagers and tourists presumed to be missing in the region, according to the District Administration Office (DAO).

A deadly avalanche set off by the devastating earthquake on April 25 had washed away the entire Langtang valley, a major tourist destination in the country, displacing the entire village and killing hundreds.

In a statement on Saturday, Nepal Army said its Disaster Assessment and Response Team had so far recovered 50 bodies of Nepalis and three of foreigners from the rubble. The Army said the search for bodies will continue.

DAO officials said 47 of the 53 corpses recovered from the rubble were of Langtang villagers. Deputy Superintendent of Police Prabin Pokharel of Rasuwa said two of the dead are Spanish while another is German. Two other bodies were of people from the neighbouring Bridhin village and another of Chandrika Buda Magar, a health worker.

Assistant CDO of Rasuwa Gautam Rimal said nearly 300 people had been missing after the earthquakes. “The Armed Police Force is clearing the road to ease traffic,” he said.

Local officials said the search started late as the area was cut off by road and the weather was harsh. The Army has cleared 1km section on the Syaphrubeshi-Kenjing road. Sonurpu Tamang, a local of Langtang, told the Post: “We went to the area to find our relatives but we only got skeletons. We identified the bodies with the help of the clothes.”

(With inputs from Krishna Thapa in Rasuwa)