KATHMANDU, May 1: Italian mountaineer Simone La Terra, 37, died while climbing Mt Dhaulagiri (8137m), officials said on Monday. This is the first fatality of the busy spring season.
Simone was a member of a 15-member expedition to toward Dhaulagiri -- the seventh highest mountain in the world.
Italian mountaineer dies on Mt Dhaulagiri
Damber Prajauli, CEO of Prestige Adventure Pvt Ltd, which handled the expedition, said strong winds blew away Simone's tent set up at 6,900 meters. "The team was out of contact since Friday due to bad weather. We got the information that Simone was missing since Saturday night on Sunday morning only," he said, adding that a rescue team was sent to the mountain immediately.
The team found Simone's body on Monday. It was airlifted to Kathmandu at 11:15 am.
According to Parajuli, Simone's tent was found some 600 meters away from where it was set up on Saturday night. "We will initiate the process of sending the body to Italy after post mortem report comes out," he added.
According to Department of Tourism (DoT), altogether three expedition teams have received permission to climb Mt Dhaulagiri this season.
