At least three French climbers went missing after an avalanche hit the area they were in, near Nepal's Mount Everest, a report by the Himalayan Times said Sunday. 

The yet-to-be-identified climbers were attempting to climb an approximately 6000 m peak in the region of Everest, the Himalayan Times said, citing sources at the Khumbu region.

A rescue team spotted the climbers' tents and climbing material near the Minbo La glacier below Mount Amadablam on early Sunday.

The climbers had not obtained permission from the authorities to summit the mountain, an official in the Department of Tourism told the Nepalese newspaper.

"It seems that they were attempting to climb Minbo Ider without obtaining a permit from the government or Nepal Mountaineering Association," the official said.

It is the law for all climbers in Nepal to apply for a permit from either the government or the Nepal Mountaineering Association to climb the South Asian country's peaks.

The newspaper also revealed that a plea from the climbers' families to launch a search mission alerted the authorities to their situation. No further details were released.

Later on, the same newspaper reported that a team of skilled mountain guides headed for the Mt Everest region to conduct a ground search for the missing alpinists.

Nepal has restarted receiving climbers after it had closed its borders for tourists throughout the pandemic. That has been ongoing since September when Nepal dropped quarantine requirements for vaccinated foreigners.