At least 12 Sherpa guides lost their lives in Everest avalanche, while five more were rescued in an accident that occurred at the beginning of the climbing season, according to the announcement of a Tourism ministry of Nepal official.
The avalanche swept down the most popular trail to the summit of Everest. Three more Nepali guides have been injured and are in critical condition and some people may be missing, said Tilap Ram Pandei, of the ministry’s mountaineering department.
The avalanche struck the Sherpa guides in an area between the central base camp and base camp 1, early in the morning, he added. According to Elizabeth Hawley, the world’s leading authority on Himalayan climbing, this was the most deadly single accident in the recorded history of Everest.
More than 4,000 climbers have climbed to the summit of Mount Everest, after its conquest in 1953 by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgkai, while more than 400 have lost their lives in the mountain.
In 1996, eight climbers lost their lives in a blizzard, bringing the total number of deaths that year to 15. This has led to heavy criticism of the commercialization of climbing this mountain.