'Time is running out' in desperate search for Malaysian, Singaporean climbers missing on Everest

Rescuers on Monday continued an increasingly desperate search for a deaf Malaysian climber missing in the freezing heights of Mount Everest, Malaysia's foreign ministry said, as the body of a compatriot who died attempting to summit was due to be airlifted down the mountain.

With the climbing season little more than halfway done, the number of deaths at the world's highest peak may have crossed 10 if those reported missing are confirmed dead. The death toll stood at nine last Thursday, and included the deaths of at least four people since May 17.

A Singaporean man who summited on Friday, Shrinivas Sainis Dattatraya, has also been reported as missing, while Australian national Jason Bernard Kennison - who learned to walk again after a 2006 accident - was confirmed to have died on Friday on his descent from the summit.

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A group of four Malaysian climbers had flown to Nepal on April 2 to take on the world's highest crest, drawing media attention back home with their observation of Ramadan and celebration of Eid at the foot of the mountain.

However, tragedy struck the group when Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacub, 56, the director of the Kedah state civil defence agency, died in the so-called death zone, an 8,000-metre high point, where the pressure of oxygen is insufficient to survive for an extended time.

Malaysian authorities confirmed his death in a statement on Saturday. The cause of death was not revealed.

On Monday, Special Duties Minister Armizan Mohd Ali in Kuala Lumpur said Awang Askandar's remains were being brought down to the Everest base camp.

"The remains are expected to be brought down from base camp to Kathmandu the next day when weather conditions permit," Armizan said.

Helicopters on Monday continued to comb a vast ice valley for 33-year-old deaf climber Muhammad Hawari Hashim, who went missing between Camp IV and Camp III during his descent after successfully reaching the peak on May 18.

The Malaysian foreign ministry said air rescue efforts had been going on since Saturday for Hawari, who they said was also mute.

On Sunday, mountaineer Nga Tenji Sherpa shared a video on Instagram of the rescue effort from a helicopter, saying they were "desperately searching" for Hawari.

"The situation is critical, and time is running out," Sherpa said, pleading to anyone with information to contact the Everest Base Camp.

In an interview with the Sports and Youth Ministry in March, Hawari said his aim was to be the first among Malaysia's estimated 47,000 deaf community to summit Everest.

Using sign language through an interpreter, he said he was also making the trip as the sole disabled member, alongside able-bodied climbers.

Communication with teammates was a hurdle, particularly using sign language with thick gloves on, he said, but added he was adapting by using simpler signals.

The death toll on the world's highest mountain, at 8,848 metres, reached at least 10 for the spring 2023 climbing season, according to AFP.

Nepali authorities issued a record 463 permits to climb Everest between March and May, sparking fears of overcrowding and delays when teams make their final ascent through the "death zone" to the summit of the world's tallest peak.

Describing Hawari as "sweet and kind", a former teacher Zaimie Zainal said she last met Hawari three days before he left for Nepal when he came to help her prepare for a Ramadan fast-breaking feast.

"You successfully reached the summit of Everest," said Zaimie in a posting on Facebook. "Now it's time to come home."

Meanwhile, another disabled Malaysian climber T. Ravichandran, who was on a separate expedition, told reporters he met Hawari's team several times at the Everest base camp.

Speaking at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport after returning home having suffered frostbite, Ravichandran, a solo climber who has ascended the Everest summit four times, described the descent as tough with "extreme weather conditions".

"Normally we conquer Mount Everest, but this year Everest conquered us," he said.

Last week Hari Budha Magar, a former Gurkha in the British Army, became the first above-the-knee double amputee to successfully scale Everest.

Elsewhere, there were no fresh updates on the status of Singaporean climber Shrinivas, 39, after he was reported on Friday to be missing on the mountain following a successful ascent.

The Straits Times quoted his wife Sushma Soma, a well-known Indian classical singer, as saying that Shrinivas had sent a text message telling her he had reached the Everest summit but was unlikely to make it back down. Shrinivas told his wife he had developed high-altitude cerebral edema (Hace), a severe type of high-altitude illness that could lead to death, the report said.

The report published on Sunday said two Sherpas and another climber who had accompanied Shrinivas successfully descended the mountain but there had been no word from him.

Nepal's Himalayan Times, meanwhile, said Australian national Kennison died at the mountain's Balcony area - situated above 8,000 metres - on May 19.

More than 300 people have been officially certified dead in the 70 years since 1953, when Nepali-Indian sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand national Edmund Hilary became the first two climbers confirmed to have reached the Everest summit.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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