81-year old mountaineer rescued from Everest

Nepali Min Bahadur Sherchan, 81, who was attempting to retain his 2008 record of being the oldest climber on Mt. Everest, fell ill and has been rescued from the Base Camp, officials said Wednesday.

"We received reports about his ill health, when we were in Lukla near the Everest Base Camp. We rescued him on Tuesday on humanitarian basis, sending a helicopter to lift him up and bring back to Kathmandu," Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association told Xinhua.

Sherchan was planning to scale the highest peak May 29, the day when New Zealand's Admund Hillary and Nepal's Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent in 1953.

However, Sherchan had to return from Camp one to the Base Camp a few days ago due to deteriorating health condition and old age. Sherchan was in the Everest region for the past two weeks.

Sherchan set the record of the oldest climber when he was 76-years old. He held the record for five years before it went to Japanese Yuichiro Miura, 80, this climbing season.