25 April - 1 May 2014 #704

Working in high places

Ayesha Shakya

By: Ayesha Shakya

13 Nepali high altitude workers were killed and 3 remain missing after an avalanche on Mt. Everest on 18 April, 2014, making it the deadliest accident in the mountain's history.

KILLER ICE: The avalanche that swept down to the Khumbu Icefall on 18 April as seen from Mt Everest Base Camp.

Lakpa Norbhu

A huge chunk of a hanging glacier on the West Shoulder broke off and fell 500m on two dozen Nepali climbers making their way up to Camp I, fixing ropes and ladders for the 31 expeditions climbing the world’s highest mountain this season.

Death rate for Nepali high altitude workers on Everest from 2004 until now is 12 times higher than the death rate for U.S. military personnel deployed in Iraq between 2003 and 2007.

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"I still call him everyday."

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