Local authorities confirm four dead in Mount Everest avalanche

Lhasa, Oct 16: Four people, including an Australian tourist, were killed in an avalanche on Mount Everest earlier this week, local authorities confirmed on Wednesday.

A tour group organised by the Tibet Longda International Travel Agency entered a restricted area on Mount Everest without permission and camped at the foot of the mountain on Sunday night, Xinhua reported citing sources in the government of Dingri county in Xigaze prefecture in Tibet.

The group, consisting of four Australian tourists accompanied by six Tibetans, was hit by an avalanche at night, the sources said.

The victims include three local porters and a 60-year-old Australian man, the sources said.

Rescuers on Monday evacuated 86 tourists from a base camp on Mount Everest and a nearby monastery where they had been stranded by the heavy snowfall.

PTI