On Wednesday morning, the season’s first accident on the world’s tallest peak, Everest, occurred when tons of ice masses moved downslope and buried three Sherpas, according to a report by The Kathmandu Post.
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Lakpa Norbu Sherpa, the coordinator of the Himalayan Rescue Association at Everest’s base camp, told the newspaper that a large ice sheet, measuring over 50 meters, fell from the mountain below Camp 1 at an altitude of 5,700 meters and buried the three guides.
The accident happened at 9:30 am while a group of 25 guides who specialize in high-altitude climbing were ascending above the Khumbu Icefall. They were making their way from Camp 2 to the summit.
“They are buried five to six meters underneath. It’s not possible to launch a search mission because the risk of an avalanche is still ongoing,” Norbu Sherpa said.
“We have traced the spot but it’s not possible to go there. The ice sheets are as big as houses. It’s not possible to dig either. It’s not that they fell into crevasses. They are buried under the ice masses in the Khumbu Icefall, the most dangerous section of Everest,” he added.
There are rescue efforts in place. The team employed the Recco detector and avalanche transceiver to search for and locate individuals buried under snow. They are aware of the location where the incident occurred, but it’s not possible to get there by walking or with a chopper. Officials from the base camp said that the chance of the missing climbers being found alive is “very slim.”
