KATHMANDU, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A Nepali mountain guide is missing on Mt. Lhotse after he was swept away by an avalanche on Sunday evening, the expedition's organizer said on Monday.
Khudam Bir Tamang, 33, who was deployed to support a South Korean expedition team to summit the world's fourth-tallest peak from its south face, has gone missing due to the outbreak of an avalanche near Camp I when he was returning to the base camp after taking loads of the expedition team to Camp I, Mingma Sherpa, chairperson of the Seven Summit Treks, told Xinhua.
The incident happened at around 6:30 p.m. local time on Sunday at a height of around 5,900 meters from sea level, Sherpa said, noting five other mountain guides were saved as they were at a certain distance from the avalanche site.
The missing mountain guide could not be found in search and rescue operations conducted from the ground and air on Monday morning, added Sherpa.
It is the first avalanche-related incident on the Himalayan mountains inside Nepal during the spring season, and other members of the South Korean team were at the base camp when the avalanche hit, according to the Seven Summit Treks.
Tamang is a member of an eight-strong team led by renowned South Korean climber Hong Sung-Taek, who is making his seventh attempt to climb the 8,516-meter-high Mt. Lhotse from its south face, which is considered one of the toughest climbs in the world. ■
