Malaysian climber evacuated from Mt Annapurna

Kathmandu, April 26 (IANS) A Malaysian climber was on Friday evacuated from from Nepal's Mt Annapurna, the world's tenth highest mountain.

According to Thaneswor Guragai, an official at Seven Summit Treks, Wui Kin Chin, the 49-year-old climber who is a doctor by profession, is being airlifted from the base camp to Nepal Mediciti Hospital in Kathmandu, reports The Himalayan Times.

With the health condition of the Malaysian climber further deteriorating at the high camp of Mt Annapurna, longline rescuers, who flew from Pokhara to the base camp, had to struggle hard to evacuate the mountaineer since early morning, he said.

According to Guragai, a group of four high-altitude rescuers descended Kin Chin alive to Camp III from an altitude of 7,500 metres late Thursday night.

"Kin Chin who has suffered from severe frostbite is said to be in critical condition," he added.

According to expedition organiser, he was located alive on Thursday morning after an aerial search operation spotted the climber waving his arms.

Kin Chin went missing while descending from the summit point (8,091 metres) after his climbing guide, as well as fellow climbers, left him stranded on Tuesday night.

The Malaysian had successfully climbed Mt Everest last year and was also planning to begin his next summit to Kanchenjunga after returning from Annapurna.

Annapurna is considered the most deadly 8,000-metre mountain, with one death for every three summits.

According to the Himalaya Database, the death rate stands at 3.91 per cent for Annapurna compared to 1.22 per cent for Everest.