In a remarkable tale of survival, a Sherpa guide in Nepal was found alive on Mount Everest on Thursday, after being missing for nearly a week.
While some of the circumstances of his disappearance are unclear, hiking officials said he managed to survive without food or oxygen in extremely dangerous conditions.
What is known about Sherpa’s disappearance and rescue
Dawa Sherpa, also known as Hillary Dawa, is a man in his fifties who was last seen near Camp III on May 29.
He had been returning with a Polish climber after failing to make it to the 8,849 m (29,032 ft) summit of the world’s highest peak.
He is understood to have gone missing somewhere between Camp III and Camp IV with it being unclear how the pair became separated.
Lama Kazi Sherpa, from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, said Dawa was located by his team above base camp near the trecherous Khumbu Icefall.
They managed to bring him down safely.
Khimlal Gautam, chief of the Department of Tourism’s Everest base camp office, told the German news agency dpa that news of Dawa Sherpa’s disappearance was received on May 30.
“We carried out an aerial search yesterday right up to the base camp but couldn’t spot him,” Gautam told dpa.
“It is a great relief and good news that he showed up himself,” Gautam said.
Paperwork complications delayed rescue
According to Gautam, rescue efforts were delayed due to complications surrounding the expedition’s paperwork.
Dawa Sherpa “had taken a permit through one company but was climbing with another company. That created complications in the rescue process itself because rescues are expensive operations,” he said.
“Dawa survived alone for nearly a week without food, water, or supplemental oxygen navigating the treacherous Khumbu Icefall (even after the fixed ladders were removed for the season),” the Nepal Mount Everest hiking company said in a social media post.
“This is nothing short of a miracle,” it added.
Around 1,000 climbers, including guides, summited Mount Everest this season. At least five people have died while climbing one of the wonders of the natural world.
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko
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