3 Climbers Killed in Himalayas

Local Editor

Two European climbers have been swept away by an avalanche while a veteran Japanese mountaineer has plunged to his death in a separate tragedy in the Himalayas, officials said on Saturday.

A European team of elite mountaineers were 100 meters shy of summiting the world’s 14th-highest peak -- China’s 8,027-meter [26,335-foot] Shisha Pangma peak -- when Wednesday’s avalanche hit.

"Two climbers -- one German, the other Italian -- were swept away in an avalanche on Shisha Pangma," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

Separately, a Japanese climber fell to his death on Friday when he slipped during an ascent of Mount Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest peak, located in northwest Nepal, according to a tourism ministry statement.
The climber lost his footing at 7,300 meters after summiting the 8,156-meter (26,759-foot) peak.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team