Famous mountaineer Noel Hanna dies descending treacherous Annapurna peak in Nepal

Kathmandu — Renowned climber from Northern Ireland Noel Hanna has died in Nepal while descending from the summit of the treacherous Annapurna mountain range, officials said Tuesday. The 56-year-old adventurer was returning after a successful summit of the 26,545-foot summit when he died in Camp 4 Monday night.

“His body has been flown to Kathmandu,” Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks told AFP from the Annapurna base camp.

Hanna has climbed Everest 10 times and has climbed the highest point on all seven continents.

In 2006, he climbed the world’s highest peak and then cycled from the Route to Sea base camp in eastern India, arriving in the Bay of Bengal after a two-week marathon bike ride.

Annapurna, the tenth highest mountain in the world, is avalanche-prone, technically difficult and has a higher mortality rate than Mount Everest.

Rescuers and helicopters were busy on the mountain on Tuesday trying to find three more Indian climbers.

The Ministry of Tourism said that the Indian climber Baljit Kaur, 28, and his compatriot Arjun Vajpayee, 30, were rescued after a search that lasted for hours.

Another Indian climber, a 34-year-old who fell into a crevasse on Monday, has not been found.

The spring climbing season in the Himalayas got off to a tragic start last week with the deaths of three Nepalese climbers on Mount Everest. The three were crossing the treacherous Khumbu Icefall on Wednesday on a supply mission when a glacier fell and swept them into a deep ditch.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring climbing season, when temperatures are warm and winds are usually calm.

The government has issued more than 700 climbing permits for various Himalayan mountains this season, including 319 for climbing Everest.