After yesterday’s successful summits, the commercial expedition to winter Makalau has turned tragic. Phurba Ongel Sherpa — the brother of expedition leader Sanu Sherpa — fell to his death on the way down. A client, Abolfazl Gozali of Iran, is reported missing.
“Phurba Ongel Sherpa died after falling from above Camp 4 at approximately 7,500m while descending from the summit,” The Tourism Times reported. “In a separate incident, Iranian climber Abolfazl Gozali went missing near Camp 4 during his descent.”
File image of Phurba Ongel Sherpa. Photo: Pioneer Adventure
From bad to worse
Yesterday, the team announced they had summited. The report noted that Gozali, guided by Sanu Sherpa, had reached the top of 8,485m Makalu around 10:30 am. Two other Sherpas, Phurba Ongel and Lakpa Rinji, topped out about an hour later.
There were no further updates that day, but the accidents occurred soon after. The Tourism Times, quoting sources from Base Camp, wrote:
Sanu Sherpa and Gozali were descending near Camp IV when Sanu noticed his younger brother, Phurba Ongel, in distress above them. Sanu instructed Gozali to wait while he went to assist. After reaching the site of Phurba Ongel’s fall, Sanu returned to find Gozali missing from his assigned location.
No comment from outfitter
The paper notes that Sanu Sherpa is back in Base Camp, coordinating search and rescue efforts. Earlier today, a spokesperson for the expedition outfitter, Makalu Adventure, told ExplorersWeb he was waiting for communications from Base Camp and made no mention of any incident. They have not commented further.
Phurba Ongel Sherpa was a highly experienced guide, born in 1981 in the Makalu region. He has worked for several expedition companies, guiding on 8,000m peaks in Nepal and Pakistan, including K2 and 19 Everest summits. This was his second attempt on winter Makalu, the fifth-highest mountain in the world.
