Two climbers, from India and Philippines, die on Everest as hiking expedition season begins
KATHMANDU (Reuters): An Indian climber and another from the Philippines became the first mountaineers to die on Mount Everest in the current March-May climbing season of the world's highest peak, hiking officials said on Friday.
Subrata Ghosh, 45, from India, died on Thursday below the Hillary Step while returning after reaching the 8,849 metre (29,032 feet) peak.
"He refused to descend from below the Hillary Step," said Bodhraj Bhandari of Nepal's Snowy Horizon Treks and Expedition organising company.
No other details were available.
The Hillary Step is located in the 'death zone', an area between 8,000-metre (26,250 ft) high South Col and the summit where the level of natural oxygen is inadequate for survival.
"Efforts are underway to bring his body down to the base camp. The cause of his death will be known only after post mortem," Bhandari said.
Philipp II Santiago, 45, from the Philippines, died late on Wednesday at the South Col while he was on his way up, said Himal Gautam, a tourism department official.
Santiago was tired when he reached the fourth high camp and died while resting in his tent, Gautam added.
Santiago and Ghose were both members of an international expedition organised by Bhandari.
Nepal has issued 459 permits to climb Everest during the current season that ends in May. Nearly 100 climbers and their guides have already reached the summit this week.
Mountain climbing, trekking and tourism is a source of income and employment for Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world.
At least 345 people have died on Everest in more than 100 years since summiting expeditions were known to have started, according to the Himalayan data base and hiking officials.
(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Michael Perry) - Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
India vows to keep up development in Kashmir after tourist attack
NEW DELHI: India is committed to efforts to develop its restive territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, accusing neighbour Pakistan of seeking to destroy livelihoods there with April's deadly attack on tourists. He was speaking on his first visit to the Himalayan region since Islamist attackers targeted Hindu tourists in the popular Pahalgam area, killing 26 men, triggering hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbours that ended in ceasefire last month. 'The atmosphere of development that emerged in Jammu and Kashmir will not be hindered by the attack ... I will not let development stop here,' Modi said in remarks after inaugurating infrastructure projects. Key among these was a $5-billion rail link between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of India, which has been more than 40 years in the making and features the world's highest railway arch bridge. Others include highways, city roads and a new medical college. India has accused Pakistan of backing the April attack, a claim denied by Islamabad, and they engaged in four days of fierce fighting last month before agreeing to a ceasefire. Pakistan aimed to disrupt the livelihoods of the poor in Kashmir, who rely heavily on tourism, Modi said, adding that he would face down any obstacle to regional development. Pakistan's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Modi's remarks. Last month, Islamabad said a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute was essential to ensure lasting peace in the region, known for its snow-topped mountains, scenic lakes, lush meadows, and tulip gardens. The region, which drew more than 3 million visitors last year, is at the heart of the hostility between the old foes, both of which claim it in full, but rule it in part and have fought two of their three wars over it. India also accuses Pakistan of supporting Islamist militants battling security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, but Islamabad denies the accusation. Trains run in the Kashmir Valley but the new link is its first to the wider Indian railway network. Apart from boosting the regional economy, it is expected to help revive tourism, which plummeted after the April attack. ($1=85.7500 Indian rupees)
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Modi vows Kashmir growth after deadly attack on tourists
NEW DELHI: India is committed to efforts to develop its restive territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, accusing neighbour Pakistan of seeking to destroy livelihoods there with April's deadly attack on tourists. He was speaking on his first visit to the Himalayan region since Islamist attackers targeted Hindu tourists in the popular Pahalgam area, killing 26 men, triggering hostilities between the nuclear-armed neighbours that ended in ceasefire last month. 'The atmosphere of development that emerged in Jammu and Kashmir will not be hindered by the attack ... I will not let development stop here,' Modi said in remarks after inaugurating infrastructure projects. Key among these was a $5-billion rail link between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of India, which has been more than 40 years in the making and features the world's highest railway arch bridge. Others include highways, city roads and a new medical college. India has accused Pakistan of backing the April attack, a claim denied by Islamabad, and they engaged in four days of fierce fighting last month before agreeing to a ceasefire. Pakistan aimed to disrupt the livelihoods of the poor in Kashmir, who rely heavily on tourism, Modi said, adding that he would face down any obstacle to regional development. Pakistan's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Modi's remarks. Last month, Islamabad said a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute was essential to ensure lasting peace in the region, known for its snow-topped mountains, scenic lakes, lush meadows, and tulip gardens. The region, which drew more than 3 million visitors last year, is at the heart of the hostility between the old foes, both of which claim it in full, but rule it in part and have fought two of their three wars over it. India also accuses Pakistan of supporting Islamist militants battling security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, but Islamabad denies the accusation. Trains run in the Kashmir Valley but the new link is its first to the wider Indian railway network. Apart from boosting the regional economy, it is expected to help revive tourism, which plummeted after the April attack. ($1=85.7500 Indian rupees)
New Straits Times
8 hours ago
- New Straits Times
India's Modi opens strategic railway in contested 'crown jewel' Kashmir
SRINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to Kashmir today since a conflict with arch-rival Pakistan, opening a strategic railway line to the contested region he called "the crown jewel of India". Modi launched a string of projects worth billions of dollars for the divided Muslim-majority territory, the centre of bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan fought a four-day conflict last month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10. "Pakistan will never forget... its shameful loss," the Hindu nationalist premier told crowds a month since India launched strikes on its neighbour after an attack on tourists in Kashmir. "Friends, today's event is a grand festival of India's unity and firm resolve," Modi said after striding across the soaring bridge to formally launch it for rail traffic. "This is a symbol and celebration of rising India," he said of the Chenab Bridge which connects two mountains. New Delhi calls the Chenab span the "world's highest railway arch bridge", sitting 359m above a river. While several road and pipeline bridges are higher, Guinness World Records confirmed that Chenab trumps the previous highest railway bridge, the Najiehe in China. Modi called it "an extraordinary feat of architecture" that "will improve connectivity" by providing the first rail link from the Indian plains up to mountainous Kashmir. With 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, the new railway runs for 272km and connects Udhampur, Srinagar and Baramulla. It is expected to halve the travel time between the town of Katra in the Hindu-majority Jammu region and Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir, to around three hours. The new route will facilitate the movement of people and goods, as well as troops, that was previously possible only via treacherous mountain roads and by air. More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire during last month's conflict. The fighting was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing, a charge denied by Islamabad. Rebel groups in Indian-run Kashmir have waged an insurgency for 35 years demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan. Modi also announced further government financial support for those families whose relatives were killed, or whose homes were damaged, during the brief conflict — mainly in shelling along the heavily militarised de facto border with Pakistan, known as the Line of Control. "Their troubles are our troubles," Modi said.
