Rescuers in a northern Nepalese village buried by a landslide after last month’s earthquake were forced to abandon their search this weekend by avalanches on Friday and Saturday, the Associated Press reports.

Government administrator Gautam Rimal said that the police and army rescuers moved to higher ground to avoid the avalanches as weather conditions deteriorated. “Fresh avalanches are hitting the area continuously,” he told Reuters. “Rescuers who were searching for bodies have now moved to safe places.”

Twenty bodies were recovered on Friday, Rimal said, although two were buried again an avalanche on Friday. From the AP:

So far, 120 bodies have been recovered from Langtang Valley, a scenic village on a popular trekking route located about 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.

Among the bodies were those of nine foreigners, and it was still not clear how many people were buried in the village that was covered by a mudslide set loose by the magnitude-7.8 quake.

Rimal said that the rescue efforts would resume when the avalanches stop.

According to the AP, the United Nations estimates that as many as 8 million have been affected by the April 25 quake. More than 8,000 people were killed and more than 16,000 injured.

Photo credit: AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.