An Indian-origin Singaporean climber has been missing since Saturday, and a multi-team search and rescue operation is underway around the Mount Everest Summit. According to Nepal Guide Treks and Expedition owner Prakash Chandra Devkota, teams of three Sherpas have been looking for Shrinivas Sainis Dattatraya (39).
Dattatraya's Everest ascent was organised by Nepal-based adventure travel company Seven Summit Treks.
The Straits Times reported on Tuesday that Devkota also shared images of the climber reaching the summit on Friday before he vanished.
Dattatraya, a senior manager for software engineering at the real estate technology company JLL Technologies, can be seen in the photos sporting sunglasses, an oxygen mask, and orange winter clothing.
The colorful prayer flags that mark the 8,849-meter summit surround him.
Standing straight on the peak, his right hand is holding a rope.
The climber is shown lying on his back in another image, surrounded by three others who are dressed similarly to him for mountain climbing. He is captured by one of them using a smartphone.
On Friday, he informed his 36-year-old wife Sushma Soma via text that he had reached the summit of Everest.
According to the Singapore broadsheet report, he informed her that he had high-altitude cerebral oedema (or hace), a severe illness that can result in death at high altitude, and that he was unlikely to return.
Soma, a musician, learnt at 2 am on Saturday that the two Sherpas he was with, and one more climber in the gathering, made it down from the mountain, however her better half won't ever do.
Devkota expressed one of the Sherpas, Dendi, had attempted to save Dattatraya, yet he didn't give more details.
He also said that Dendi had frostbite on his fingers and was in the hospital.
The Nepal Guide Trips and Expedition owner said Dattatraya was his old friend, and he had gone along with them on past climbs, including a 2021 expedition to the 8,163 m Manaslu peak in Nepal, however "this time is so terrible"
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