Source: BusinessInsider
- A climber was rescued after falling into a 985-foot crevasse on Annapurna in Nepal.
- Anurag Maloo, 34, had been trapped for three days and is now being treated in a hospital.
- It was “sheer luck” he was found alive, a trek organizer told Reuters.
A climber was miraculously rescued on Thursday after he fell into a nearly 1,000-foot deep crevasse while climbing Annapurna mountain in Nepal, one of the world’s most dangerous mountains.
Five sherpas and two foreign climbers used ropes to rescue Anurag Maloo, 34, from the mountain where he was trapped for three days, Mingma Sherpa, of mountaineering company Seven Summit Treks, told Reuters.
The Indian climber was flown to a hospital in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, and is in a critical condition, according to Reuters.
Annapurna is found in the Himalayas and is notorious for its treacherous conditions. It is the world’s 10th-highest peak at 8,091 meters, or around 26,545 feet.
“This sort of rescue is rare because the location is very dangerous,” Sherpa told Reuters.
“For one person, seven other climbers put their lives at risk. It was his sheer luck that they found him alive,” Sherpa added.
Maloo fell in the 300-meter, or roughly 985-foot, deep cavity on Monday while trying to return to the base camp. He was found barely alive, The Times reported.
“We were almost going to pronounce him dead as we didn’t find any pulse or heartbeat in the beginning,” Dr. Sujana Poudel, who initially treated the climber in nearby Pokhara, told the outlet.
His family is now with him while he is being treated in the hospital, per to the Associated Press.
Maloo’s brother said his sibling was an ardent climber and had hoped to climb all 14 peaks in the world taller than 8,000 meters (26,240 feet), per the AP.
Well-known Irish climber Noel Hanna died on Monday while returning from the summit of Annapurna mountain.