43-year-old Bengal mountaineer Rajib Bhattacharya has died while descending from Mount Dhaulagiri, according to his expedition team.
A resident of Baranagar, Bhattacharya who had conquered Mt Everest in 2011, developed snow blindness and collapsed at an altitude of 7500 metres yesterday morning, said an official quoting Nepal's Seven Summit Treks.
His body is still lying attached to a rock due to the treacherous terrain and a three-member team of the West Bengal government would be sent tomorrow to bring the body back, Manab Lahiri vice-president of Serampore's Angan Chariye said.
"The temperature is frigid between -20 and 35 degree centigrade and the terrain is difficult. It will be a tough task," he said.
The team will consist of mountaineer Dipankar Ghosh, Devdas Nandi of West Bengal mountaineering federation and his relative Prabir Bhattacharya, he said.
Bhattacharya represented Angan Chariye and was the only member from West Bengal in the expedition organised by Seven Summit Treks.
According to Lahiri, Bhattacharya had scaled the Mount Kanchenjunga with Channda Gayen who later went missing during an avalanche in 2014.
At 8,167 metres above sea level, Mt Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world, located in western Nepal.
Bhattacharya had also scaled world's fourth largest peak Mt Lhotse (8516m), said Lahiri.
