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| Avalanche Kills 12 Sherpas on Mount Everest | Avalanche Kills 12 Sherpas on Mount Everest |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| NEW DELHI — At least 12 Sherpa guides were killed Friday morning on Mount Everest when an avalanche struck as they were fixing ropes for other climbers, a Nepalese Tourism Ministry official said, the worst disaster on the mountain in recorded history. | |
| The Sherpas were at an elevation of 19,000 feet when the avalanche hit, according to Madhu Sudan Burlakoti, joint secretary for the Tourism Ministry. He said four other people were missing and six had been injured. Some of the dead had been fixing ropes for climbers. | The Sherpas were at an elevation of 19,000 feet when the avalanche hit, according to Madhu Sudan Burlakoti, joint secretary for the Tourism Ministry. He said four other people were missing and six had been injured. Some of the dead had been fixing ropes for climbers. |
| Elizabeth Hawley, considered the world’s leading authority on Himalayan climbing, said in a telephone interview that the avalanche was the “worst single incident of fatalities ever in the history of climbing Everest.” | |
| The Nepalese government mobilized four helicopters for a search-and-rescue operation, which was continuing Friday in heavy snowfall, Mr. Burlakoti said. | The Nepalese government mobilized four helicopters for a search-and-rescue operation, which was continuing Friday in heavy snowfall, Mr. Burlakoti said. |
| The climbers were on a slope that is known as the popcorn field because of ice formations that resemble popcorn, said Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. | The climbers were on a slope that is known as the popcorn field because of ice formations that resemble popcorn, said Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. |
| Many climbers who scale Mount Everest from the Nepalese side do so with the assistance of Sherpa guides, who have the laborious task of fixing ropes for other climbers, most of whom are foreigners. Because the guides expose themselves to the mountains first, they bear more risk. | Many climbers who scale Mount Everest from the Nepalese side do so with the assistance of Sherpa guides, who have the laborious task of fixing ropes for other climbers, most of whom are foreigners. Because the guides expose themselves to the mountains first, they bear more risk. |
| More than 200 people have died while climbing Mount Everest since Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand-born mountaineer, and Tenzing Norgay, his Sherpa guide, were the first to reach its peak in 1953. In 1996, eight climbers died in a fierce blizzard, which was then the worst death toll in a single day on Everest, later memorialized in a book by Jon Krakauer. | More than 200 people have died while climbing Mount Everest since Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand-born mountaineer, and Tenzing Norgay, his Sherpa guide, were the first to reach its peak in 1953. In 1996, eight climbers died in a fierce blizzard, which was then the worst death toll in a single day on Everest, later memorialized in a book by Jon Krakauer. |
| Thousands have reached the summit of Everest, and the tourism industry in Nepal gets a huge boost from the climbing season in April and May. | Thousands have reached the summit of Everest, and the tourism industry in Nepal gets a huge boost from the climbing season in April and May. |
| This year, the Nepalese government announced that officials and security personnel had been sent to the base camp at an altitude of 17,400 feet in an effort to speed up rescue operations for climbers, according to The Associated Press. | This year, the Nepalese government announced that officials and security personnel had been sent to the base camp at an altitude of 17,400 feet in an effort to speed up rescue operations for climbers, according to The Associated Press. |