American climber, local guide die after avalanche hits Tibetan mountain

By Anadolu staff

An American mountaineer and her Nepalese guide were killed while two others are missing after an avalanche struck the slopes of a Tibetan mountain, local media reported Sunday.

The climber, Anna Gutu and her guide Mingmar Sherpa were confirmed dead on Sunday, while another Ame­r­ican climber, Gina Marie Rzucidlo, and her Nepalese guide Tenjen Sherpa are missing following a separate avalanche, China’s Xinhua News reported.

The two avalanches struck the mountaineers on Saturday at a height of 7,600 meters (about 25,000 feet) and 8,000 meters (26,246 feet).

Shishapangma is the 14th-highest mountain in the world, at 8,027 meters (26,335 feet) above sea level.

Two Pakistani climbers, Shehroz Kashif and Naila Kiani, were also part of the expedition and managed to reach base camp-1 safely, said the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the country's official mountaineering organization.

The bodies of the deceased mountaineers have been evacuated, while a search for the missing climbers is under way.