Death toll in Everest avalanche rises to nine

By
AFP
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Death toll in Everest avalanche rises to nine
KATHMANDU: The death toll from an avalanche that struck a party of Nepalese climbing guides on Friday morning on Mount Everest has risen to nine, a senior government official told.

"Nine people have died, we have rescued five others," said tourism ministry official Madhusudan Burlakoti.

The death of nine Nepalese climbers on Mount Everest is the most deadly single accident in the history of modern mountaineering on the world´s highest peak, an expert told.

The previous record was in 1996 when eight people from an expedition died in a tragedy immortalised in the best-selling book "Into Thin Air", said Kathmandu-based Elizabeth Hawley, who runs the Himalayan Database and is regarded as the leading authority on Himalayan mountaineering.