Baljeet Kaur, a 27-year-old leading Indian woman climber, went missing near Camp IV of Mt Annapurna while descending from the summit point, an official of the expedition organiser said on Tuesday, a day after another Indian climber died after falling from 6000 m into a crevasse.
On Monday, Anurag Malu, a resident of Kishangarh in Rajasthan, went missing while descending from Camp III of Mt Annapurna.
Later, it was found that Malu died after falling from 6000 m into a crevasse while descending from Camp IV on Monday, The Himalayan Times newspaper reported.
In May last year, Kaur, from Himachal Pradesh scaled Mt Lhotse and became the first Indian climber to have climbed four 8,000-meter peaks in a single season.
Pasang Sherpa, chairman of Pioneer Adventure, said that Kaur went missing above Camp IV while descending from the top as she scaled the peak without using supplemental oxygen.
"We just sent three helicopters to find Baljeet," Sherpa said. According to him, the fate of the climber was still unknown, the report said.
According to Mingma Sherpa, chairman at Seven Summit Treks, Noel Hanna, the first person from Ireland to reach the summit of K2 during the winter season, breathed his last in Camp IV last night. Efforts are underway to bring their bodies back to base camp, organisers said.
Annapurna is the tenth-highest mountain in the world, standing at 8,091 metres above sea level.
It is well known for the difficulty and danger involved in its ascent.
Published 18 April 2023, 07:09 IST