Agencies
April 19: Renowned Northern Irish climber Noel Hanna has died while descending from the summit of Mt Annapurna, officials said Tuesday, adding that the 56-year-old climber died at Camp 4 on Monday night while he was returning after a successful summit of the 8091-meter peak.
According to the state-owned RSS, his body was picked up from an altitude of 6,000 meters by a helicopter on Tuesday morning and was sent to TU Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu for \ postmortem.
Hanna had reportedly climbed Everest 10 times and reached atop the highest point on all seven continents.
In 2006, he climbed the world's highest peak and then cycled from the route's base camp to the sea in eastern India, reaching the Bay of Bengal after a marathon two-week bike ride, the AFP reported.
According to the French news agency, Annapurna, the world's tenth highest mountain, is avalanche-prone, technically difficult and has a higher death rate than Everest.
“Another climber Baljeet Kaur, 28, from India was rescued from a spot at an altitude of 7,500 meters on Tuesday afternoon by a Kailash Air chopper,” RSS quoted one of the rescuers Indra Singh Sherchan of Dana as saying. Her expedition is managed by Pioneer Trekking Company.
Kaur’s compatriot Arjun Vajpai, 30, was also rescued after a search lasting hours, AFP reported citing the Department of Tourism.
Another 34-year-old Indian climber, who fell into a crevasse on Monday, is still missing.
The spring climbing season had a tragic start last week with the death of three Sherpa climbers on Everest. The trio were crossing the treacherous Khumbu icefall on Wednesday as part of a supply mission when a block of glacial ice fell and swept them into a deep crevasse, AFP added.
“Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring climbing season, when temperatures are warm and winds are typically calm.”
The government has issued more than 700 climbing permits for various Himalayan mountains this season, including 319 for Everest.
