Four people, including an Australian tourist, were killed in an avalanche in Mount Qomolangma (Mount Everest) earlier this week, local authorities confirmed on Wednesday.

A tour group organized by the Tibet Longda International Travel Agency entered a restricted area on the mountain without permission and camped at the foot of the mountain on Sunday night, according to sources with the government of Dingri county in Xigaze prefecture in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

The group, consisting of 4 Australian tourists, accompanied by six Tibetans, was hit by an avalanche at the night, the sources said.

The victims include three local porters and a 60-year-old Australian man, the sources said.

On Monday, rescuers evacuated 86 tourists from a base camp on Mount Qomolangma and a nearby monastery where they had been stranded by heavy snow.