The search has been called off for three local guides missing after a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.

A record 13 climbers lost their lives on Good Friday, while another nine people have since been rescued. It is the single deadliest incident ever on the world's highest mountain.

According to a Napalese army spokesman the helicopters used in the search have now returned to the capital Kathmandu.

Most of those who died were sherpas who ferry supplies to camps for foreign climbers trying to scale the world's highest mountain.

Nepal has announced several steps this year to manage the flow of climbers, minimise congestion and speed up rescue operations.

Preparations include sending officials and security personnel to the base camp at 5,300m (17,380ft), where they will stay until the end of the climbing season in May.

More than 4,000 climbers have scaled the summit since 1953, when it was first conquered by Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

More than 300 people are believed to have died tackling the peak during that time.