Indian Climber Rescued From Nepal Mountain Suffers Frostbite

Baljeet Kaur, the 27-year-old Indian woman climber who was rescued on Tuesday after she went missing near Camp IV of Mt Annapurna in Nepal, has suffered frostbite, an official said.

"She has suffered from frostbite and is now being rushed to CIWEC Hospital from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu," Pasang Sherpa, Chairman at Pioneer Adventure, said as quoted by news agency PTI.

According to Mr Sherpa, Ms Kaur was rescued from a height of 7,363 metres after a search team pinned her location above Camp IV. Ms Kaur scaled Mt Annapurna, the 10th highest peak in world, without using supplemental oxygen, Mr Sherpa said.

The search team spotted the woman mountaineer descending alone towards Camp IV, he added.

Although radio contact with Ms Kaur was lost after she went missing on Monday, she managed to send an SOS Tuesday morning, prompting authorities to mobilise at least three helicopters to rescue her. 

Her GPS location indicated an altitude of 7,375 metres (24,193 feet), Mr Sherpa said.

In total, five climbers, including Ms Kaur, were rescued from different camps around Mt Annapurna. The body of Noel Hanna, a Northern Irish climber was brought from Camp IV to Kathmandu.

The other three rescued are Arjun Vajpai from India and Shehroze Kashif and Naila Kiani from Pakistan.

Another Indian climber, Anurag Malu from Rajasthan, remains missing.

"I'm praying that the daughter of Himachal Pradesh, Baljeet Kaur, will recover soon. She has made India and her state proud on more than one occasion," said Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur. 

Mt Annapurna, standing at 8,091 metres above sea level, is the tenth-highest mountain in the world and is counted among the most difficult peaks to summit along with K2 and Nanga Parbat.