Bodies of Finnish climber, Nepalese guide found in Himalayas

KATHMANDU : Rescuers in Nepal have located the bodies of a Finnish climber and a Nepalese guide who fell into a crevasse while descending Mount Annapurna last week, expedition organisers have said, according to an AFP report on Wednesday. Samuli Mansikka and Pemba Sherpa slipped and fell into a cracked glacier after a successful summit of the challenging 8,091-metre (26,545-foot) mountain in Nepal's Himalayas eight days ago, the managing director of Dreamers Destination said. "We are trying to recover the bodies but our attempts so far have failed because the bodies are stuck in a narrow glacier crevasse," 

Temba Tsering Sherpa told AFP. "Helicopters cannot land in the area and it's difficult for people to reach the crevasse and pull out the bodies," Sherpa said. Mount Annapurna is both technically difficult and avalanche-prone and has a much higher death rate among climbers than Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. The 36-year-old Finn, an experienced mountaineer, had climbed the mountain solo and without bottled oxygen. He was descending on March 24 with the 35-year-old guide, who was working for another team, when they fell into the crevasse. Last year, a massive snowstorm struck the popular Annapurna circuit at the height of the trekking season, claiming 43 lives and capping a grim year for the tourism-dependent Himalayan nation. 

(AFP)