KATHMANDU: The body of an Indian climber, who died last week after falling into a crevice after conquering Mt Everest, has been handed over to the Indian embassy here.
Ravi Kumar, 27, was lying stranded at a 200-metre-deep crevasse near the summit of the world’s tallest mountain since May 22. He went missing from the balcony located at 8,400 metres on Everest last Saturday.
"The body was handed over to the Indian embassy on Sunday," Mingma Sherpa, Managing Director of Seven Summit Treks, the company overseeing the operation, was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times.
A team of high-altitude climbing experts has pulled out Kumar's body from the perilous zone in the mountain on Saturday evening.
"High-altitude climbing experts flew to Camp II (6,400m) by helicopter and then climbed to the balcony," he said, adding, it took more than three hours to pull out Ravi’s body from the crevasse at the "death zone" where there is short- supply of oxygen. The bodies have been flown to Kathmandu.
Ten people were deployed for the mission, he said. The cost of the operation that also included recovery of the dead bodies of other two Indians is expected to touch USD 200,000.
"The Indian government will bear the cost of the operation," said Sherpa.
Kumar had reached the summit with his guide at 1:28pm last Saturday. The Indian climber collapsed during the descent due to low energy and oxygen levels.