Missing mountaineer found alive in Mt. Annapurna

MYAGDI, April 21:After three days, a climber who went missing from the Mt. Annapurna's second base camp in Myagdi was found alive.

Anurag Malu, 34, of Kishangarh, Rajasthan, India, was discovered on Thursday morning at the Mt.  Annapurna's second base camp. Malu was recovered alive from a height of 7,500 meters by a Prabhu Air helicopter at 10:30 a.m., according to Thaneshwar Guragari, manager of the Seven Summit Trek.

"Helicopters took him from Mt. Annapurna to Pokhara's Manipal Teaching Hospital, and treatment has begun," he said. Malu's condition is critical, according to family members. Malu went climbing through the Seven Summits Trek. Malu went missing while returning to the base camp after the ascent failed.

Baljeet Kaur, a 27-year-old Indian climber, was also rescued alive from the Mt. Annapurna earlier on Tuesday. According to the hiking business Pioneer Adventure, Kaur, who was brought to Kathmandu, is in good health.

Noel Hanna, a Ireland climber, died on his way back from climbing Annapurna on Tuesday. Hanna had gone on to climb Mt. Annapurna  through the Seven Summits Trek.

The Mt. Annapurna , which stands at 8091 meters, is located in the geography of Narchang, Annapurna Rural Municipality Ward No. 4 in Myagdi. The climbing season for the current year began on Saturday in the 8091-meter-high Mt. Annapurna.

This year, 45 persons from five groups received authorization from the department of tourism  to climb Annapurna peak. According to Tej Gurung, Chairman of the Conservation Area Management Committee, Narchang, 35 persons had reached the Annapurna base camp and returned as of Wednesday.

Mt. Annapurna is the world's tenth highest mountain. Maurice Hergoz of France made the first ascent of Annapurna in 1950. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenjinnorge Sherpa scaled Mount Everest in 1953, three years after Maurice climbed Annapurna.