Kathmandu, 16 April: Rescuers have called off the search for three Nepali climbers missing on Everest, officials said Saturday, acknowledging the first fatalities on the world’s highest mountain this climbing season.
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.
“After several search and rescue attempts, the operation has been called off. They are buried too deep and it does not seem possible to retrieve the bodies,” tourism department official Bigyan Koirala told AFP.
The Khumbu Icefall is a dangerous, ever-shifting expanse of glacial ice that requires climbers to navigate crevasses over rickety ladders.
All climbers must cross it on the route to the mountain’s 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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