Sunday Times 2
Sons of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa took refuge together when deadly Nepal earthquake struck
The sons of the first climbers to conquer Mount Everest sheltered together after the devastating earthquake hit Nepal leaving more than 6,000
Peter Hillary, son of Sir Edmund, and Jamling Norgay, son of Tenzing Norgay, sheltered together after the devastating earthquake hit Nepal (Reuters)
dead.
Jamling Norgay’s father Sherpa Tenzing Norgay famously got to the top with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953.
His son, also a mountaineer, was on his way to base camp with a group of 10 Indian women when they felt the tremors.
They decided to keep climbing rather than risk being hit by boulders at the foot of the hill.
By complete coincidence, as they they took refuge, they ran into Sir Edmund’s son Peter, who was also on an expedition.
Mr Norgay told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: ‘We are very close and dear friends.
‘It was by coincidence that we met there. It’s always great to see him in the mountains.
‘Just to hear his part of the story about the avalanche … I had no idea of how tremendous that was.
‘He basically described it as an avalanche of snow, ice and rock that hit base camp and flattened everything that was in its path.’
Sons of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa took refuge together when deadly Nepal earthquake struck (Reuters)
After being asked what is needed now, Mr Norgay said: ‘Nepal has suffered greatly with the recent earthquake.
‘There’s thousands of people homeless, sleeping outside.
‘The village … where my father grew up is almost flattened, almost all the houses have been flattened.
‘A lot of villages – it’s about 95 per cent have damages.
‘So I think we need to figure out a way to slowly rebuild the houses for all these people.
‘Most of the tea houses along the way in the Everest region … most of the other trekking routes … have been damaged.
‘It is going to take a while for people to come back in the Himalayas.’
More than 6,000 people were killed by the worst earthquake to hit the country in 80 years, while more than 13,000 have been injured.
© Daily Mail, London