Spot News, second prize winner, stories. A wall of rock, snow, and debris roars toward Everest Base Camp in Nepal before slamming into to the southern part of the camp at midday on April 25, 2015, killing at least 22 people. The avalanche was triggered by a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 8,000 people in the country. Rescue helicopters managed to reach the site about 18 hours after the avalanche as bad weather, aftershocks and fears of further avalanches rattled survivors. At the time of the disaster, the 5,364-meter-high Base Camp was teeming with hundreds of climbers and supporting teams who use the base to prepare their ascent to the peak of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth.