Rescue teams airlift climbers stranded at Mount Everest

Kathmandu, April 27

Mountain rescue teams, helped by clear weather, used helicopters to airlift climbers stranded for two days at high altitude on Mount Everest after a powerful earthquake triggered an avalanche that killed at least 17 people.

Romanian climber Alex Gavan said on Twitter that three helicopters had reached camps 1 and 2, which are at altitudes of more than 6,000 metres (20,000 feet). Each helicopter is only capable of carrying two climbers due to the thin air, Gavan said from base camp.

Carsten Lillelund Pedersen, a climber from Denmark, posted a video on Facebook showing a helicopter landing to evacuate two climbers and then taking off again after 30 seconds. The weather conditions were clear.

Survivors on Everest described a cloud of rock and ice that smashed into base camp on Saturday. More than 60 people were injured, leading climbers to send frantic messages calling for helicopter assistance to evacuate the wounded.

An estimated 100 climbers and guides were safe but trapped at camps 1 and 2 by Saturday's 7.9 magnitude earthquake which rendered the treacherous Khumbu icefalls leading up to them from base camp impassable.

Meanwhile, mountaineers Hemant Gupta and Payo Murmu, who were stuck up at 22,000 ft height of the Himalayas on way to the summit on Aril 25 when the quack struck in Nepal, today safely returned to the base camp.

The information was given in Jamshedpur by Bachendri Pal, first woman conqueror of world’s highest summit Mt Everest, after she received phone calls from the two mountaineers.

The two mountaineers had left Jamshedpur in the first week of April to climb the highest peak.

Pal said she had been constantly in touch with the team’s handling agency which had informed her on Saturday night that both the mountaineers were safe and stuck up at Camp II.

“I am happy that both our mountaineers as well as others who were stuck up at Camp II with them, have returned to the base camp,” Pal said.

Foreigners in Nepal at time of deadly earthquake

MUMBAI: Here are details released by some foreign governments on citizens who were in Nepal at the time a strong earthquake hit on Saturday, killing more than 3,200 people.

The 7.9-magnitude quake struck at midday on Saturday at a busy time of year for tourism-reliant Nepal’s trekking and climbing season, with an estimated 3,00,000 foreign tourists in the country, several hundred of those on Mount Everest.

Countries are listed in alphabetical order.

AUSTRALIA: 549 Australians registered as travelling in Nepal, 200 confirmed safe. No reports of Australian deaths.

AUSTRIA: Around 250 Austrians in Nepal, no reports of any casualties.

BANGLADESH: Fifty nationals, including members of the country’s under-14 girls’ football team, evacuated. No information on exact number of nationals in Nepal.

BRITAIN: Several hundred Britons believed to be in Nepal.

No reports of deaths or injuries.

CHINA: State news agency Xinhua, quoting the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, reports four people confirmed dead and 10 seriously injured. Xinhua said at least 20 people were killed in Tibet.

COLOMBIA: Seven nationals missing. No reports of any deaths or injuries.

CROATIA: Four tourists, all accounted for.

CZECH REPUBLIC: 155 nationals in Nepal, 54 have not yet been contacted.

ESTONIA: About 30 Estonians were known to be in Nepal, according to its foreign ministry. One has been reported dead and four are unaccounted for.

FRANCE: French authorities have located 1,098 nationals, but another 674 are still not in touch. No reports of casualties.

GREECE: Two Greek nationals safe.

INDIA: Five Indians killed in Nepal, and another 66 in Indian regions over the border. So far, 1,417 Indians evacuated from Nepal.

INDONESIA: Thirty-four nationals in Nepal, 18 of them residents. Eighteen have not yet been contacted.

IRELAND: About 100 citizens in the affected region. Many have been contacted.

ISRAEL: About 600 Israelis estimated to be in Nepal. About 400 have been contacted, most of them sheltering at the embassy in Kathmandu. These include 25 couples in Nepal to bring home babies born to surrogate mothers.

ITALY: More than 300 Italians in Nepal have been traced, others not yet contacted.

JAPAN: Japan’s Foreign Ministry said one Japanese man was killed and a woman was injured. Some 1,100 Japanese living in Nepal are registered with the embassy, but no information on the number of nationals travelling through.

LATVIA: Forty-one nationals have been contacted. No reports of injuries.

LITHUANIA: Fifty-five Lithuanian nationals in Nepal, of whom five were not reachable.

MALAYSIA: Two Malaysians are missing. A team of Malaysian climbers at the Everest base camp are among those who have been accounted for and are safe.

MEXICO: Twenty-eight Mexican nationals are safe. One missing.

NORWAY: About 150 nationals in Nepal, no reports of any dead or injured.

PAKISTAN: About 30 nationals have been evacuated from Nepal, no information on exact number.

PHILIPPINES: Two Filipino climbers are reported safe.

PORTUGAL: All seven Portuguese known to be in Nepal are safe.

ROMANIA: Twenty-eight Romanians in Nepal, including mountaineer Alex Gavan and three others, all reported to be safe.

RUSSIA: Tass news agency, citing Emergencies Ministry, says no casualties among Russians.

SINGAPORE: No information on the exact number, but the majority of the registered Singaporeans in Nepal have been contacted.

SRI LANKA: Around 100 Sri Lankans have sought help for evacuation. No casualties reported.

SOUTH KOREA: Three nationals injured in the earthquake.

650 residents and as many as 1,000 travellers are estimated to have been in Nepal.

SWEDEN: Around 150 Swedes known to be in Nepal, no reports of casualties. Most have been accounted for.

TAIWAN: Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said 179 Taiwanese were in Nepal at the time of the quake. Of those, 152 had been confirmed safe, the whereabouts of the other 27 were unknown.

THAILAND: Sixty-six Thais, including six medical students, are reported to be safe.

UNITED STATES: Three Americans killed.— Agencies