First Everest death of 2019, Irishman missing

Mount Everest yesterday claimed its first fatality of the main spring climbing season, an Indian man, while an Irish mountaineer was also missing, expedition organisers in Nepal said. An Indian soldier meanwhile died on nearby Mount Makalu, two days after two other Indians died on Mount Kanchenjunga, the world’s third-highest peak, with one Chilean missing. Ravi Thakar, 28, was found dead inside his tent at Everest Camp 4 at 7,920 metres (26,000 feet) yesterday morning as his team was resting after a successful summit. “Efforts are underway to bring his body back,” Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks told AFP. A day earlier his team lost an Irish member, Seamus Lawless, 39, when he slipped from below the “balcony” area at around 8,300 metres. Sherpa said that guides have intensified their search for him.