French climbers missing in Nepal

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Four French climbers have gone missing while trying to climb a mountain in northern Nepal, mountaineering officials say.

The four men were trying to scale the 19,340-foot (5896-metre)-high Mount Paldor, about 80km (50 miles) north of the capital, Kathmandu.

Reports of the missing climbers reached Kathmandu this week after they failed to meet their friends, reports say.

Mount Paldor is described as a "trekking peak" by authorities.

Ang Tshering Sherpa of the Nepal Mountaineering Association said that a rescue helicopter had been sent to the mountain, but there was no sign of the missing climbers.

He said the mountain was one the "easiest trekking peaks in Nepal".

A friend of the climbers, Stefania Paolik, told the AFP news agency that the four men were from the mountain town of Grenoble in south-eastern France and were "very experienced climbers".