EVEREST DISASTER: At Least 6 Killed, 9 Missing In Avalanche On World's Highest Mountain

At least six climbers were killed and nine went missing on Mount Everest early Friday after an avalanche swept down the route used to climb the world's highest peak, AP reported.

All of the dead and injured were believed to be Nepalese sherpas, who were working to prepare the route with equipment and ropes ahead of the main climbing season which begins later this month, The Economic Times reported.

Soon after the avalanche hit around 6:30 a.m., first responders and fellow climbers geared up to help. A helicopter was also dispatched from Kathmandu, AP reported.

''Rescuers have already retrieved four bodies and they are now trying to pull out two more bodies that are buried under snow,'' Nepal Mountaineering Association president Ang Tshering Sherpa told Sydney Morning Herald.

The worst recorded disaster on Everest happened May 11, 1996, when eight climbers died after being caught in a blizzard close to the summit.