Indian climber missing in Nepal

KATMANDU: A female Indian climber and two sherpas are missing after being hit by an avalanche while climbing on Mount Kanchenjunga, her family and Nepalese officials said Thursday.
Chhanda Gayen and her three Nepalese guides successfully summited Mount Kanchenjunga last Sunday before attempting to scale a lower peak on a different part of the world’s third-highest mountain on Tuesday.
Gayen, an experienced climber in her mid-thirties who scaled Everest last year, was on her way down from the 8,505-meter-high Yalung Kang peak on Tuesday evening when the avalanche struck at 5,500 meters, officials said.
“An Indian climber... Chhanda Gayen, and two sherpas have gone missing,” said Dipak KC from the tourism ministry.
After the accident, Na Tashi Sherpa, the only known survivor from Gayen’s team, alerted Seven Summits, the Nepalese expedition company handling her climb.
“Rescue operations so far have been unsuccessful. We will resume search on Friday morning,” said Pasang Sherpa of Seven Summits.
The avalanche comes a month after 16 Nepalese guides were killed in the deadliest ever accident on Mount Everest, spurring a virtual shutdown of the world’s tallest peak.