Indian-origin man missing after reaching Mount Everest summit, family asks for help

An Indian-origin Singaporean man went missing after reaching the Mount Everest summit last month and the family is now requesting urgent help, as per reports.Shrinivas Sainis Dattatraya travelled to Nepal last month from Singapore to climb Mount Everest, the family said in a petition on the website change.org.

In the petition, his cousin Divya Bharath stated that Shrinivas appeared to have experienced altitude sickness and frostbite while travelling down. He may have become isolated from the rest of his group as a result of this and "fell at around 8,000 metres, probably onto the Tibetan side of the mountain," according to the report.

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A team of Sherpas started searching for Shrinivas on Saturday morning, according to Bharath, who was quoted by a Singaporean news outlet on Saturday. He apparently last spoke to base camp staff at a height of about 8,500 metres. Bharath stated in the appeal that the family had contacted the relevant governments.

"This matter needs to be brought to their attention on an urgent basis. We need a special rescue team that is trained to operate in such risky terrain as well as to ensure that this whole rescue operation is not hindered by diplomatic paperwork," Channel News Asia quoted Bharath as saying.

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She noted that although Shrivinas' family was upset, they were determined not to give up. On April 1, Shrinivas, a 39-year-old executive director at Jones Lang LaSalle, departed for Mount Everest. He was expected to return home on June 4.

Last spoke on Friday

Shrinivas'wife Sushma Soma told The Straits Times that he last spoke with her on Friday at around 3:30 pm, informing her that he had reached the peak of Everest but was not expected to return.

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"Through his satellite phone, he told me that he had made it to the summit. But then followed with bad news. He said that he would not be able to make it down," The Straits Times quoted Soma as saying. She added that Shrinivas had informed her that he had high-altitude cerebral edoema, a serious condition that may be deadly.

Two other Sherpas return

At two in the morning on Saturday, Soma discovered that while the two Sherpas her husband was travelling with and another member of the team had successfully returned, Shrinivas had not.

Diplomatic channels

Channel News Asia reports that since Friday evening, the Singapore High Commission in New Delhi has maintained regular communication with Shrinivas' family, local Nepali authorities, and emergency medical personnel. The station reported the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs as stating that it will keep an eye on events and provide the family with the appropriate consular support during this trying period.

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