Avalanche kills 12 in single deadliest accident on Mount Everest - CNN

Climbers and guides were preparing for the spring climbing season.

• NEW: Four people remain missing, Nepal Tourism Ministry official says


• The deadliest year on Mount Everest was 1996, when 15 people died


• More than 300 climbers have been given permission to tackle Everest this spring


• About 400 Sherpas will help them make the grueling ascent

Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) -- A high-altitude avalanche Friday killed 12 Sherpa guides and seriously wounded three in the single deadliest accident on Mount Everest, officials said.

Four others are missing, said Madhu Sudan Burlakoti of Nepal's Tourism Ministry, adding that six people were injured in total.

A group of about 50 people, mostly Nepali Sherpas, were hit by the avalanche at more than 20,000 feet, said Tilak Ram Pandey of the ministry's mountaineering department.

The avalanche took place just above base camp in the Khumbu Ice Fall.

The climbers were accounted for, Pandey said. "Rescue teams have gone ... to look for the missing."

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay smile after descending from Mount Everest in 1953. The pair were the first climbers to summit the world's tallest mountain.

John Hunt, later Sir John Hunt, led the 1953 Everest expedition.

Tenzing, Hunt and Hillary are welcomed in Bhandgaon, Nepal.

Tenzing arrives in India after his ascent.

Locals celebrate Hillary and Tenzing in Nepal in 1953.

Hillary and Tenzing are welcomed in India. See the full gallery on LIFE.com.

Locals celebrate first Everest ascent

Locals celebrate first Everest ascent

Locals celebrate first Everest ascent

Locals celebrate first Everest ascent

Indian celebrations for first Everest ascent

Locals celebrate first Everest ascent

Locals celebrate first Everest ascent

Before Friday, the deadliest single-day toll was from an accident in May 1996, when eight climbers disappeared when a huge storm hit. Their tragic story was chronicled in Jon Krakauer's bestselling book "Into Thin Air."

Everest by the numbers

Readying for the climb

Between May 15 and 30 is usually the best window for reaching the 29,028-foot peak.

Climbers and guides had been setting the ropes for the route, acclimating to the climate and preparing the camps along the route when the avalanche hit Friday, said Gordon Janow with Alpine Ascents International in Seattle.

Climbers arrive in April to acclimate to the altitude before heading toward the summit of the world's highest mountain.

Ethnic Sherpas acts as guides for the mostly foreign clients.

Busiest season

The spring climbing season is the busiest of the year.

About 334 foreign climbers have been given permission to climb Everest over the next couple of months, with an estimated 400 Sherpas helping them, mountaineering official Dipendra Poudel said.

Until the late 1970s, only a handful of climbers reached the top each year. The number topped 100 for the first time in 1993. By 2004, it was more than 300. In 2012, the number was more than 500.

The deadliest year on Everest was 1996, when 15 people died. Another 12 climbers were killed in 2006.

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On top of the world in 1963

Journalist Manesh Shrestha reported from Kathmandu and CNN's Ed Payne reported from Atlanta. CNN's Dave Alsup contributed to this report.

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