Nepal earthquake video: Terrifying footage shows moment avalanche hit Everest Base Camp

Dramatic footage has emerged from an avalanche at Everest base camp which killed 18 people, that was triggered by the devastating earthquake in Nepal.c

The avalanche buried part of the base camp packed with around 400 foreign climbers who were preparing to make the summit.

Filmed by German climber Jost Kobusch on Saturday, the video shows the camp of yellow tents decorated with colourful Nepalese prayer flags as he realises “the ground is shaking.”

The mood becomes tense when the campers realise that a huge avalanche is rushing towards them.

Climbers swear and pant in fear as the avalanche careers above their heads, leaving them covered in snow.

As the shaken, snow-covered campers discuss where to shelter, the sheer force of the avalanche becomes clear as they realise the kitchen tent has been crushed by snow.

An operation to evacuate around 100 mountaineers from higher camps to the base camp has started, as three helicopters were running shuttles into camps in the Western Cwm, the Guardian reported.

James Grieve, of Kinross, Scotland, was among those stranded.

"Everyone is apprehensive about what’s happening and what will happen in the next 24 hours," he told the Sun. "Our tents have all been lost and we have around 18 dead bodies at base camp.

"There is a lot of confusion in the camp and there are still about 120 of us here waiting to be rescued.

"We are in a race against time to get off the mountain," he said, adding that he feared up to 50 people had been killed.

Britons Alex Schneider and Sam Chappattee, both 28, who were on their honeymoon, as well as Daniel Mazur, a climbing expedition leader from Bristol, were among the survivors at the base camp.

However, Daniel Fredinburg, a senior American executive at the Google search engine, was among the dead.

The death toll following Saturday’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake has risen to 3,218, according to Deputy Inspector General of Police Komal Singh. 1,000 of those victims were in Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital. This figure does not include the 18 people confirmed dead in the avalanche, who were counted by the mountaineering association.

A further 61 people were killed in neighbouring India, and China reported 20 people dead in Tibet, according to the Associated Press.

Tens of thousands of people fearing further aftershocks were forced to sleep outdoors for a second night on Sunday evening, camping in parks, open squares and a golf course.

Tents and water are being distributed at ten locations in the capital, Kathmandu district chief administrator Ek Narayan Aryal said.

“There have been nearly 100 earthquakes and aftershocks, which is making rescue work difficult. Even the rescuers are scared and running because of them,” he said.

“We don't feel safe at all. There have been so many aftershocks. It doesn't stop,” said Rajendra Dhungana, 34, who spent Sunday with his niece's family for her cremation at the Pashuputi Nath Temple.

Acrid, white smoke rose above the Hindu temple, Nepal's most revered. “I've watched hundreds of bodies burn,” Dhungana said.