April 26, 2015 10:40 AM EDT
A n initial wave of survivors from Mount Everest arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday, one day after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck outside Nepal’s capital city and triggered an avalanche that killed at least 17 people and injured dozens more, the Associated Press reports .
AFP photographer Roberto Schmidt was at Everest Base Camp on Saturday when the avalanche flattened parts of it. After capturing the snow and debris rushing down, he turned his camera to document the aftermath: mangled tents, rescuers helping the injured and the helicopters taking them off the mountain.
Read next: First Survivors of Everest Avalanche Reach Quake-Hit Kathmandu
A cloud of snow and debris triggered by an earthquake flies towards Everest Base Camp, moments before parts of the camp were flattened, in the Himalayas, Nepal, on April 25, 2015. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images The avalanche, triggered by an earthquake outside Kathmandu, Nepal, flattened parts of Everest Base Camp on April, 25, 2015. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images Rescuers help a porter onto a makeshift stretcher after he was injured by the avalanche on Mount Everest, triggered by an earthquake outside Kathmandu, Nepal. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images Rescuers assist an injured person at Everest Base Camp after an avalanche was triggered by an earthquake outside Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 25, 2015. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images Rescuers look for survivors after the avalanche that was triggered by an earthquake outside Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 25, 2015. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images Rescuers tend to an injured sherpa after the avalanche that was triggered by an earthquake outside Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 25, 2015. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images Rescuers carry an injured sherpa after the avalanche that was triggered by an earthquake outside Kathmandu, Nepal, on April 25, 2015. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images A person injured in Saturday's avalanche is carried by rescue members to be airlifted by a rescue helicopter at Everest Base Camp on April 26, 2015. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images An injured person is loaded onto a rescue helicopter at Everest Base Camp on April 26, 2015. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images Prayer flags frame a rescue helicopter as it ferries the injured from Everest Base Camp on April 26, 2015, one day after an avalanche triggered by an earthquake outside Kathmandu, Nepal. Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images More Must-Reads from TIME L.A. Fires Show Reality of 1.5°C of Warming Behind the Scenes of The White Lotus Season Three How Trump 2.0 Is Already Sowing Confusion Elizabeth Warren’s Plan for How Musk Can Cut $2 Trillion Why, Exactly, Is Alcohol So Bad for You? How Emilia Pérez Became a Divisive Oscar Frontrunner The Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise Harder Zelensky’s Former Spokesperson: Ukraine Needs a Cease-Fire Now