KATHMANDU: The family of Dawa Sherpa has demanded stern action against those guilty of leaving Dawa alone in the death zone of Mt Everest for a week.

Damu Sherpa, who reached HAMS Hospital to see her ailing husband this afternoon, said she would file a legal case against all involved in the negligence. “I want justice.”

Damu heavily criticized the government for not acting promptly to rescue her husband. “Dawa went missing on May 29, and we immediately contacted the concerned authorities for help, but all turned a deaf ear,” she lamented. “The government is celebrating a record revenue of over 1 billion rupees it collected from Everest climbing this season, but why didn’t it respond to our calls?” she questioned.

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“Imagine if a foreigner, not Dawa, was left alone on Everest – what would the reaction be?”

Damu also raised a question over the role of the team’s liaison officer. “Why didn’t the liaison officer act in time to find Dawa, despite the government officer taking thousands of dollars from the handling company?” Damu asked. “It’s not only about Dawa – it’s sheer disrespect to all Sherpa climbers who risk their lives to make their foreign clients happy on Mt Everest,” she added.

We had already started his funeral ritual and today is the second day, Dawa’s daughter Mhendo Lhamu Sherpa said, asking for answers from the authorities over such negligences.

“On the surface, this The Tourism Times story crystallizes what Everest has become and the treatment of mountaineering workers,” Norbu Tenzing Norgay, son Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, reacted.