Week on, missing Everest sherpa found alive

Dawa was spotted on Thursday morning by a cleaning crew near the Khumbu icefall above base camp. He was crawling down the snowy slopes when rescuers found him, said Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions, which coordinated the search.

Kathmandu: A Sherpa guide who went missing on Mount Everest a week ago was found alive on Thursday and airlifted to a hospital, rescuers said. Dawa Sherpa, 52, was last seen descending the mountain around May 29 but failed to reach base camp, although his client completed the descent safely. The pair were among the last climbers on Everest as the season ended and climbing routes were being dismantled.

Rescuers carried him to safety, provided food and water, and evacuated him by helicopter to a hospital. Sear­ch efforts had been delayed, and an earlier aerial search failed to locate him. The team that found Dawa belonged to the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, which installs and later removes ladders and ropes on Everest routes each season.

Dawa, from Okhaldhunga in Nepal, works for Kathman­du-based Himalayan Traverse and was guiding a Polish climber. Over 1,000 climbers and guides summited Everest this May, making it the busiest season on the world’s highest peak. —AP