KATMANDU, Nepal: Hundreds of government officials, mountaineers, fellow Sherpa guides and supporters gathered in Nepal on Wednesday to mourn the veteran guide who was the first person to climb Mount Everest 10 times.
The body of Ang Rita was cremated Wednesday according to Buddhist rituals two days after he died. He was 72 and had been ill with liver and brain diseases for months.
The body wrapped in Buddhist flags, flowers and cream scarf was taken on a decorated truck from the Sherpa Monastery in the outskirts of Katmandu to cremation grounds in the heart of the city.
Hundreds lined up at the monastery to pay their last respects, covering the body with the scarf and flowers. Among them was Nepal’s tourism minister Yogesh Bhattarai.
“This is an irreplaceable loss to not just Nepal but also for the entire mountaineering community. He has been the reason for Nepalese mountaineers getting recognition around the world,” said Tika Ram Gurung of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, the umbrella body of Nepalese climbers and guides.
Ang Rita was a national hero known as the “snow leopard” and was among the first Sherpa guides internationally recognized for his mountaineering accomplishments. He struggled with his health and had not climbed since setting the Everest record in 1996.
Several mountaineers have surpassed his record since. Kami Rita, who is not related, has scaled the world’s highest mountain 24 times.
Ang Rita is survived by a daughter and two sons.
Sherpa guide who climbed Everest 10 times cremated in Nepal
Sherpa guide who climbed Everest 10 times cremated in Nepal
- The body of Ang Rita was cremated Wednesday according to Buddhist rituals two days after he died
- Hundreds lined up at the monastery to pay their last respects, covering the body with the scarf and flowers
Contaminated water kills 9 and hospitalizes 200 in India’s Indore city
- The drinking water in the Bhagirathpur area of the city was contaminated due to a leak, and a water test had confirmed the presence of bacteria in the pipeline
NEW DELHI: At least nine people have died and more than 200 have been hospitalized in the central Indian city of Indore after a diarrhea outbreak that officials said was linked to contaminated drinking water, according to a lawmaker and local health authorities.
Kailash Vijayvargiya, a lawmaker, said nine people had died in Indore.
Indore’s chief medical officer, Madhav Prasad Hasani, told Reuters by phone that drinking water in the Bhagirathpur area of the city was contaminated due to a leak, and a water test had confirmed the presence of bacteria in the pipeline.
“I cannot say anything on the death toll but yes over 200 people from the same locality are undergoing treatment at different hospitals of the city. The final report of the water sample collected from the affected area is awaited,” Hasani said.
Shravan Verma, the district administrative officer, said authorities had deployed teams of doctors for door-to-door screening and were distributing chlorine tablets to help purify water.
“We have found one leakage point that could have contaminated the water and that point has been fixed,” Verma said, adding that officials had screened 8,571 people and identified 338 with mild symptoms.
Indore, in Madhya Pradesh state, has been named India’s cleanest city and has topped the national cleanliness rankings for the past eight years.
