Disaster strikes Everest climbers second year in row
Disaster struck near the summit of Mount Everest for the second
year in a row, with news coming from the mountain that seven climbers
are missing and feared dead on the north face.
If all seven turn out to be dead, it would push this year's Everest
toll to at least nine, rivalling last year's loss of 12 mountaineers.
The seven missing climbers are believed to include three Kazakstanis,
one German and a Sherpa, said Sue Kelly, the spokesperson for
Adventure Consultants, organisers of the New Zealand expedition.
The nationalities of the other two were not immediately known,
but an Internet site
posting by Todd Burleson of the Mountain Zone, from a base camp
on Everest, said one of the other lost climbers in the group was
South Korean.
The notice said the expedition was from International Mountain
Climbing, a German company.
They did not return from near the summit on Sunday, May 11, and
hopes for their survival have faded. It is understood they may
have perished in a severe storm about 200 metres below the 8,847-metre
summit, she said.
The majority of climbers seeking to conquer Everest this season
are on the southern side, waiting in camp for the storm to clear.
A Russian climber died on the descent from the summit and two
of his partners are missing, Russia's Interfax news agency said
on Sunday.
UNI
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