KATHMANDU, Nepal-The body of Sona Sherpa, 36, of Solukhumbu, one among the 10 mountaineers slain in the base camp of Naga Parbat has been brought back to Nepal on Sunday afternoon. Sona was among 11 mountaineers who were killed in terrorist attack in Pakistan on June 22.
Along with his dead body, seven Nepali survivors have also arrived in Kathmandu. Mountaineers Karma Sherpa, Holung Dorchi, Ningma Dorchi, Dawa Sherpa, Pemba Dorchi, Pochhuree Sherpa and Rengy Lakpa Sherpa arrived in Kathmandu, Sunday noon.
Sona’s grieving wife was also at the airport to receive his body.
Nepalese team comprising of eight members had left for Pakistan with a Chinese mountaineering team on June 10.
Sona had last made a telephone call to family members in Nepal on June 20 to inform about his situation in Pakistan. During the phone call Sona had persuaded his his 70-year-old mother Phuchhiriki and 28-year-old wife Doma not to worry about him.
“Fate might not have accompanied Sona that night as he decided to rest in the Base Camp of the world’s ninth tallest mountain instead of scaling the peak owing to his poor health condition,” Holung Sherpa, one of the survivors, recounted.
Sona and other foreigners were taking rest in a tent in the Base Camp when gunmen identifying themselves as Pakistani Taliban stormed into it and opened fire. It was probably the first time mountaineers had been targeted by the underground armed outfit in Pakistan, even though many foreigners were targeted in the past.
Sherpa’s last rite is being performed in Bouddha Kathmandu on Monday as per the Sherpa tradition. Sona is survived by two sons, wife and mother.
