Everester dies on 7th highest mountain

Kolkata: A pall of gloom descended on Matrimandir Lane after the news of Everester Rajib Bhattacharya's death while descending Mt Dhaulagiri reached Baranagar on Friday. Bhattacharya, 43, an experienced mountaineer who scaled Mt Everest in May 2011 with fellow climber Dipankar Ghosh, apparently lost his eyesight before suffering a heart attack on Thursday.
According to Ghosh, Bhattacharya seems to have passed away close to where veteran mountaineer Basanta Singha Roy had a near-death experience in 2013. Roy, from Nadia, was descending Mt Dhaulagiri when his oxygen cylinder developed a leak and he collapsed. Fortunately, Roy was airlifted to Kathmandu and treated in the ICU. A few of the mountaineer's toes had to be amputated due to frostbite.
Unlike Roy, Bhattacharya seems to have ascended the 8,167-metre Mt Dhaulagiri before attempting to get back to Camp III. Mt Dhaulagiri, located in western Nepal, is the seventh highest peak in the world. According to Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks in Kathmandu, it was snowing heavily as the team made its way down from the peak.
Bhattacharya suddenly complained of loss of eyesight. He collapsed soon thereafter and lost his life. It is still not clear whether Bhattacharya was carrying any oxygen. At that height, heart attacks can occur due to lack of oxygen. Snow blindness, caused by over-exposure to the Sun's ultra-violet rays, is not known to be life-threatening. Fellow mountaineers in Kolkata said they were unawares of any ailment that Bhattacharya was suffering from.
Fellow mountaineer Satadal Santra paid a tribute to Bhattacharya. "Few have heard Rajib Bhattacharya's name because he never stepped into the limelight and didn't promote himself. He had climbed several 8,000m peaks, including Mt Everest and Mt Kanchenjunga, in the Himalayas. For those who got to know him better, he was like an elder brother, offering explanations and advising precaution," he said.
Efforts are on to airlift Bhattacharya's body from the mountain before it can be sent back home. Bad weather conditions are holding back the operations, a source revealed.