Indian mountaineer Anurag Maloo, 34, is put on a stretcher while being taken out from the helicopter after being rescued from Mount Annapurna, at Nepal Mediciti Hospital in Lalitpur, Nepal April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Monika Malla

Indian mountaineer rescued alive after falling from Annapurna

Rescuers hauled an Indian mountaineer up 200 metres from the depths of a crevasse three days after he plunged into it on Mount Annapurna in west Nepal, hiking officials said on Thursday.

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Rescuers hauled an Indian mountaineer up 200 metres (656 feet) from the depths of a crevasse three days after he plunged into it on Mount Annapurna in west Nepal, hiking officials said on Thursday, in a rare example of a successful high-altitude rescue operation.

Indian mountaineer Anurag Maloo, 34, lies on a stretcher while being taken into the hospital after getting rescued from Mount Annapurna, at Nepal Mediciti Hospital in Lalitpur, Nepal, April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Monika Malla

The climber, 34-year-old Anurag Maloo, was being flown to a hospital in Kathmandu in critical condition, according to Thaneshwar Guragain, an official at the Seven Summit Treks hiking company.

Five sherpa and two foreign climbers used ropes to rescue his after he fell on Monday as he was returning to base camp after failing to reach the summit of Annapurna, the world’s 10th-highest peak at 8,091 metres (26,545 feet), Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks said.

Indian mountaineer Anurag Maloo, 34, is taken into the hospital after being rescued from Mount Annapurna, at Nepal Mediciti Hospital in Lalitpur, Nepal April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Monika Malla

"This sort of rescue is rare because the location is very dangerous," Sherpa said. "For one person seven other climbers put their lives at risk. It was his sheer luck that they found him alive," he said.

Maloo had fallen near Camp II at an altitude of about 5,680 metres, Tourism Department official Bigyan Koirala said.

A 10-time Everest summiteer from Northern Ireland died on the descent from Annapurna on Monday.

The peak in west Nepal, which was first climbed by Maurice Herzog of France in 1950, is considered dangerous due to the risk of frequent avalanches.

At least 365 people are recorded as having climbed Annapurna while more than 72 have died on it over the years.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Hugh Lawson)