An Irish climber has died in Nepal after becoming the first climber from Ireland to reach the summit of one of the world's tallest mountains.
According to expedition organisers, Noel Hanna, a 10-time Everest summiteer from Dromara, Co Down, died at Camp IV after he returned from the Mount Annapurna summit point on Monday night. Record-holding Indian climber Baljeet Kaur also went missing near Camp IV while descending from the summit point.
While she was presumed dead, she has been reportedly found alive this morning. As news of Noel's death reached home, tributes from Ireland's climbing community flooded in.
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Posting on Facebook, Mourne Mountain Adventures said: "Very saddened to hear of the passing of Noel Hanna this morning, local to the Mournes Noel was the first person from Ireland to successfully climb K2, and astonishingly he climbed the summit of Everest 10 times. There is some peace in that he spent his last moments doing what he loved best, such a great man and one of N.Ireland’s (sic) finest Mountaineers.
"I had the pleasure of interviewing Noel on two occasions, he will be greatly missed by all that knew him. My condolences go out to his wife Lynne and the rest of his family, RIP Noel."
SDLP Councillor Laura Devlin said: "This is awful news to wake to. Noel was an absolute gentleman who I first met away back during my Burrendale Gym days.
"To say he was an athlete was an understatement. He was an incredible climber who climbed Everest many many times. Noel was such an interesting person with so much life experience and always up for a chat.
"This news is devastating. I am thinking of Lynne and all their family and friends." A third person, Indian climber Anurag Maloo, went missing after falling from 6,000m into a crevasse while descending from Camp IV the previous day.
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