A team of high-altitude climbing experts has successfully executed the most complex operation on Mt Everest by pulling out the body of an Indian climber from the perilous zone in the mountain on Saturday evening.

The body of Ravi Kumar, 27, was lying stranded at a 200-metre-deep crevasse near the summit of the world’s tallest mountain since May 22. He went missing from the so-called balcony located at 8,400 metres on Everest last Saturday.

“The body was handed over to the Indian embassy on Sunday,” said Mingma Sherpa, managing director of Seven Summit Treks, the company overseeing the operation. The team also recovered bodies of two other Indian climbers Goutam Ghosh and Paresh Nath who had died on the mountain in 2016.

“It took three days to complete the mission,” he said. “Our boys (high-altitude climbing experts) flew to Camp II (6,400m) by helicopter and then climbed to the balcony,” he said, adding, it took more than three hours to pull out Ravi’s body from the crevasse at the “death zone” where there is short-supply of oxygen. The bodies have been flown to Kathmandu.

Ten people were deployed for the mission, he said. The cost of the operation that also included recovery of the dead bodies of other two Indians is expected to touch $200,000. The operation was launched following immense pressure from the Indian government.

“The Indian government has agreed to bear the cost,” said Sherpa.

“We do dare difficult and dangerous operations on Everest. But this mission was different. In fact, it was the biggest mission in my life executed on Everest so far,” he said. Each rescuer will be paid a fee of $3,000, he said. All the members of the rescue team have returned back safely after conducting the operation.

Kumar had reached the summit with his guide at 1:28pm last Saturday. The Indian climber collapsed during the descent due to low energy and oxygen levels.

Kumar had forced his guide to push for the summit even though it was not a good time, according to the expedition organiser. The guide left Kumar on the balcony with auxiliary oxygen as he couldn’t walk any further.

The guide descended to Camp IV to send back a rescue team as he was suffering from frostbite and snow blindness. Three high-altitude guides reached the spot, but they couldn’t find the Indian climber.

Yearwood’s body lies stranded in Everest

KATHMANDU: The family of a 50-year-old American climber, Roland Yearwood, who died on May 21 near the summit of the world’s highest peak, still has not responded to calls to retrieve the stranded body from the mountain.

Mingma Sherpa, managing director of Seven Summit Treks, said Yearwood’s family has been asked to arrange necessary funds to retrieve the body from the mountain.  “We haven’t heard anything since then.”  He said it would cost at least $60,000 to retrieve the body.

As the costs of retrieving bodies from the mountain are staggering, many expeditions choose not to bring down the bodies of their members who die on Everest.