Sport At 8120 meters altitude
French mountaineer dies on Mount Makalu in the Himalayas
As of: 2:16 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
Der Mount Makalu
Those: De Agostini via Getty Images/DEA/BERSEZIO
The Himalayan Mountains have claimed another death. A Frenchman dies shortly before the summit of Mount Makalu. A rescue attempt fails. Two more alpinists are missing on Mount Everest.
A French mountaineer has had a fatal accident on Mount Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world. As the organizers of his expedition announced on Tuesday in Nepal, 60-year-old Johnny Saliba died on Sunday at an altitude of 8,120 meters on the way to the summit.
“He was on his way to the top but his guide pulled him back after he showed symptoms of altitude sickness. And then he died,” said Bodha Raj Bhandari, expedition organizer at Snowy Horizon Treks and Expedition. The mountain guide tried to take Saliba to a lower altitude, but the Frenchman died on the way. The other participants in the French expedition returned to base camp unharmed.
Bhandari added that Saliba’s family has been informed and efforts are currently underway to recover his body. It was the second death in the Himalayas since the climbing season began in spring. Last week, a 53-year-old mountain guide from Nepal also had an accident on Makalu. Located east of Mount Everest, Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world with a height of 8,485 meters. Nepal has issued 59 permits for climbing Makalu this year. The climbing fee is $1,800 (1,668 euros) – which is significantly cheaper than climbing Everest, which costs $11,000.
Nepalese sets record on Mount Everest
On the same day, Nepalese Kami Rita set a new record on neighboring Mount Everest. The mountain guide known as the “Man from Everest” climbed the world’s highest mountain for the 29th time on Sunday, breaking his own record. At the same time, according to the Nepalese tourism authority, the British Kenton Cool became the first non-Nepali person to achieve the 18th climb – this is also a new record.
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On Tuesday, a search was carried out on Mount Everest for two missing mountaineers from Mongolia. 53-year-old Usukhjargal Tsedendamba and 31-year-old Prevsuren Lkhagvajav last reported on Sunday evening from Camp 4 at an altitude of 7,900 meters and announced that they would set off on the climb to the summit, as Pemba Sherpa from the organizer 8k Expeditions said. “We haven’t been able to achieve anything since then.”
Kami Rita climbed Mount Everest for the 29th time
Source: AFP/PRAKASH MATHEMA
Sherpa said the two men were traveling without a guide and had left their radio in their tent. Four Nepalese mountain guides were sent to search for the missing people. The Nepal Tourism Authority said another team saw the two climbers on the way to the summit on Monday morning, but there had been “no contact” since then.
The authorities have already issued 414 licenses to mountaineers for Mount Everest for this year’s spring season from April to June. Most of them are accompanied by local guides called Sherpas. Last year more than 600 people climbed the mountain. However, more people died on Mount Everest than ever before: in 2023 there were 18 deaths.
