Published 29 June 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2628
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2628

News

Urgent action is needed to prevent deaths among Himalayan pilgrims, says climbing federation

Siddhartha Yadav

1 Kathmandu

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

At least 10 pilgrims have died over the past three weeks while visiting the Kailash Manasarovar area in Tibet, which is at an altitude of over 4500 m. The medical commission of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation has called for urgent action to prevent the deaths.

The pilgrims are said to have died of altitude related illnesses and worsening of other conditions. Dozens of other pilgrims with serious altitude related illnesses had to be rescued by helicopter.

The area, believed to be the abode of the Hindu god Shiva, is visited by thousands of pilgrims annually, mostly from India and Nepal. The Indian government and private tour operators conduct pilgrimages to this site, although the government ones are limited to only a thousand Indian citizens selected through a prize draw.

Most of the pilgrims had ascended very rapidly and were unable to acclimatise to the altitude, leading to life . . . [Full text of this article]


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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Awareness and further research is needed in this population
Matiram Pun
bmj.com, 1 Jul 2009 [Full text]
Such tragedy could have been prevented
Ghan Bahadur Thapa
bmj.com, 7 Jul 2009 [Full text]
Simple measures
Bibhuti Neupane
bmj.com, 9 Jul 2009 [Full text]
Awareness Issues
Ashish Lohani
bmj.com, 9 Jul 2009 [Full text]
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