Nepal has marked the anniversary of Mount Everest's deadliest avalanche with a memorial and a government announcement of a welfare fund for mountaineering and trekking workers in the Himalayan nation.

On April 18 last year, an avalanche killed 16 Sherpa guides who were carrying their loads just above Everest's base camp.

Following the disaster, the guides accused Nepal's government of not doing enough for them, despite making millions in permit fees from the Western mountaineers who attempt to scale the tall Himalayan peaks.