Odisha Mountaineer Kalpana Das dies during expedition on Mt Everest

Bhubaneswar: In a shocking incident, 49-year-old mountaineer from Odisha, Kalpana Das died on Mt Everest today afternoon while descending from the peak.

Kalpana Das was an esteemed member of the “Three Women Expedition” group which was locally managed by Dreamers Destination Treks. Kalpana died in the balcony area while coming down from the peak, informed Meera Acharya, Director at the Department of Tourism.

The ‘Three Women Expedition’ group included Liyamu Ma from China and Kanchhi Maya Tamang from Nepal and Kalpana. The group had reached the peak of Mt Everest at around 12: 55 PM today and while descending from the peak, Kalpana fell ill near the balcony area where she breathed her last.

"The other mountaineers could not rescue her to the base camp due to inclement weather," said Pradip Das, brother of deceased Kalpana.

"She always used to motive everybody. It was only due to her encouragement that I could scale Mount Kilimanjaro," said mountaineer Biranchi Moharana.

Kalpana hails from Dhenkanal district of Odisha and holds number of records for scaling several high peaks in India, Nepal, South America, Australia and Europe. As per the records of DoT, Kalpana had scaled Mt Everest in 2008 from Nepal side.

"It will be grateful if Odisha government brings Kalpana body's to the State as it is not possible on others part," another international mountaineer, Jogavyas Bhol.

Meanwhile, expressing grief over Kalpana's death, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik directed sports department to take necessary steps to bring back her body after holding discussions at diplomatic levels.

Very, very sorry to hear that Indian mountaineer from Odisha #KalpanaDas passed away today after climbing Everest one more time earlier in the day.

May her indomitable spirit inspire others to achieve great heights, and her soul rest in peace. Om Shanti ???

— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) May 23, 2019

(With inputs from The Himalayan Times)