No oxygen, no food, no water: ‘Miracle rescue’ for Singapore-based Malaysian climber Chin Wui Kin, who was stranded on Nepal’s Mount Annapurna for two days
- Experienced mountaineer endured freezing conditions after being separated from group while descending from peak
- Chin survived without supplies for more than 40 hours before being spotted by rescue helicopter
A Malaysian climber stranded in the open for two nights on one of the world’s most treacherous mountains was rescued in Nepal on Thursday, expedition organisers said.
Climbing experts said it was a “miracle” that 48-year-old survived the freezing conditions on Mount Annapurna for so long.
Chin reached the top of the 8,100-metre (26,500-foot) Himalayan mountain on Tuesday but failed to return to the nearest camp, 1km (0.6 miles) below the peak, with the rest of his group. He was a part of a 13-member expedition led by a French climber and was separated from the others while descending from the peak.
Frantic efforts began to find him after his guide stumbled to the camp and raised the alert.
“Our team has found him alive. He is conscious,” Thaneshwor Guragain of Seven Summit Treks, which organised the expedition, said.
A rescue helicopter spotted Kin waving from the snowy slopes at an elevation of around 7,500 metres (24,500 feet) early on Thursday, organisers said.