Nepal's Consul General in Lhasa, Hari Prasad Basyal, speaks at the send-off event for Nepalese mountaineers (photo taken on May 9).
Due to the strong earthquake in Nepal, the Chinese Mountaineering Association and the Tibet Autonomous Region Mountaineering Association urgently suspended the 2015 spring climbing activities on the northern side of Mount Everest on April 30. On the day of the earthquake, there were a total of 470 foreign climbers from 32 countries preparing to climb in the areas of the northern side of Everest, Mount Shishapangma, and Mount Cho Oyu. Currently, 346 have been safely evacuated and left the country. Starting from May 10, the remaining 124 Nepalese high-altitude support staff will return to Nepal by flight one after another. By then, all rescue, resettlement, and safe departure work for foreign climbers in Tibet will be completed. (Reported by Li Hualing, Xinhua News Agency)