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Climbers tweet updates as avalanches continue on Everest slopes
Kathmandu, April 26
Even as a Nepal tourism
ministry official on Sunday declared a toll of 18 climbers on Mount
Everest after Saturday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake, climbers in the area
tweeted updates about the prevailing conditions around their respective
base camps.
At 12.57 p.m., Jim Davidson, a climber at 19,850.03
feet, tweeted: "Just had our biggest aftershock yet here at C1 on
Everest. Smaller than original quake but glacier shook & avalanches
again. Nerve wracking...."
At around 1.30 p.m., Daniel Mazur,
from Bristol, England, @danielmazur tweeted: "Aftershock @ 1pm! Horrible
here in camp 1. Avalanches on 3 sides. C1 a tiny island. We worry about
icefall team below... Alive?
Mazur, at around 11.00 a.m., in a
tweet had said: "12+1 member #Everest BC TV team passed away. RIP.
#Earthquake loosed tons of ice down, creating wind blast destroying BC'
heart."
In the morning at 6.00 a.m., Adrian Ballinger, a climber
from Squaw Valley, California wrote on Instagram: "Waking to clear
skies, sun and a fresh coating of snow on #Everest. While our forecast
predicts clouds will build quickly this afternoon, and more snow is on
the way....
"I hope this window of clear allows for the most
critically injured to be rescued from the South Side base camp by heli,
and those less injured to begin descending under their own power.
"Good
weather should also allow climbers and Sherpas to continue their search
in the debris for victims. We are holding a puja with our Sherpa, and
beginning to consider what happens next. #everest2015 #earthquake,"
Ballinger posted.
At about noon, mountaineer Alex Gavan,
@AlexGAVAN tweeted: "Just another earthquaqe now. And another three
small avalanches. All good. Pfiu!!!
Around 1.00 p.m., Ballinger
tweeted: "Another big one. Really big. Rockfall off surrounding peaks in
North Side #everest base camp. Worst possible news for south.
#earthquake"