Brit missing on Mount Everest after ice collapses in 'death zone'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A Brit and his guide have gone missing in the known "death zone" on Mount Everest following an ice fall. Daniel Paul Paterson, 40, and Pas Tenji Sherpa, 23, lost contact while descending, after successfully summiting around 4.40am last Tuesday, according to Nepalese officials.

It is believed that a patch of overhanging ice broke off during their journey past the notorious Hillary Step - a vertical rock face about 12 metres long and considered the most challenging segment of the standard Everest route. READ MORE: LIVE: UK general election 2024 as Rishi Sunak announces July polling day Climbing the Hillary Step has the danger of a 3,000 metre drop on the left when coming down and a 2,400 metre drop to the left. "Eyewitnesses reported the incident took place between Summit Ridge and South Summit and some climbers were swept away in Kangshung Face," Lakpa Sherpa of 8K Expeditions wrote on Instagram.

Paterson was a member of a 15-person team from 8K Expeditions, headed by Bolivian climber David Hugo Ayaviri Quispe. According to local media, three members of the squad have been rescued, and a search-and-rescue operation is underway to locate others. "Our dedicated search and rescue teams are deployed on the ground.

They are working tirelessly to locate our missing climbers. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families during this challenging time," 8K Expeditions said, reports the Mirror.