Two Indian climbers, who were reported to have gone missing on Mount Everest Saturday, were traced on Sunday morning, an expedition organiser said.
Two Indian climbers, who were reported to have gone missing on Mount Everest Saturday, were traced on Sunday morning, an expedition organiser said. Two deaths from apparent altitude sickness in recent days have highlighted the risks on the world’s highest mountain.
Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh have been missing since Saturday, said Wangchu Sherpa of the Trekking Camp Nepal agency in Kathmandu. They were last seen near the Everest summit. Two of their companions who fell sick were being helped down the mountain, Mr Sherpa said.
About 30 climbers have developed frostbite or become sick near the summit in recent days. Most of the sick climbers suffered frostbite while attempting to reach the summit or on their descent, mountaineering department official Gyanendra Shrestha said.
Favourable weather has allowed nearly 400 climbers to reach the summit from Nepal since May 11, but the altitude, weather and harsh terrain can cause problems at any time. Several Sherpa guides carried one sick climber from the highest camp, at nearly 8,000 meters to Camp 2, at 6,400 meters, where attempts were being made to pick her up with a helicopter, said Pemba Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks agency in Kathmandu.
Seema Goswami of India had frostbite to her hands and feet at the South Col camp and was unable to move. “It took a big and risky effort, but we were able to save her,“ Pemba Sherpa said, adding that an Iranian climber identified only as S. Hadi had been brought to Kathmandu and was recovering in a hospital.
A Norwegian woman, 45-year-old Siv Harstad, suffered snow blindness and was helped down from the summit on Saturday, the Norwegian news agency NTB said. The two climbers who died were on the same expedition team. It was undecided when and if their bodies will be brought down from the high altitude and it will depend on the team and family members, Pasang Phurba of the Seven Summits agency said.
Carrying bodies down Everest takes at least eight Sherpa guides, since they become frozen and heavier than normal. More details were not available because of communication difficulties on the 8,850-meter mountain.
The two deaths were the first confirmed this year on Everest, during a busy climbing season that follows two years in which the peak was virtually empty due to two fatal avalanches.
Dutch climber Eric Arnold, 35, had enough bottled oxygen with him, as well as climbing partners, but he complained of getting weak and died Friday night near South Col before he was able to get to a lower altitude, Mr Phurba said, adding that just hours after Arnold died, Australian climber Maria Strydom also showed signs of altitude sickness Saturday afternoon before she died.
Strydom was a finance lecturer at Monash University’s business school in Melbourne. The school posted on Facebook
