The search for the five climbers who went missing on Mt Kanchanjungha since May 20 and are presumed dead has been called off Thursday.
The families of the missing climbers including two Nepalis and three foreigners, and the expedition organizer Seven Summit Trekking Agency (SSTA) have decided to stop the search after the team sent for the rescue of the five returned citing extremely bad conditions. The rescue team said the thawing of snow with the advent of summer has made it extremely difficult to climb the mountain in eastern Nepal.
"Our agency tried its best to bring back the bodies. But, we could not continue rescue operation as thawing of snow has already started," said SSTA Manager Minga Sherpa. He also informed that rescuers themselves would be at risk as the snow start melting from the second week of May.
Two Hungarians, a South Korean national, and three Nepali climbers are believed to have died while returning to camp 4 [7,400 meters] after scaling the 8,586 meter peak.
The agency also tried to send a helicopter to bring back the bodies after the effort mobilizing the rescue team on foot failed. However, the chopper also could not reach the incident spot.
Hira Dahal, the pilot, who had attempted to land on the incident spot, said it was impossible to collect the bodies from the height of 7400 meter in bad weather.
"We tried but it is an impossible job to retrieve the dead bodies from the spot," Pilot Dahal said after making an unsuccessful attempt. He also said that the rescue operation would be costlier. "Moreover the bad weather was the greatest impediment in the rescue effort," Dahal added.
Friday 31 May 2013
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=55446
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