Ameesha Chauhan is a lucky survivor of the deadly “traffic jam” that occurred on the path to the summit of Mount Everest. To this day, the young woman is still recovering.
Conquering Mount Everest is a dream for millions of people worldwide, and it has opened up an opportunity for Nepal to generate a huge amount of money each year.
This climbing season, the government issued a record number of permits, leading to congestion on the “roof of the world.” This was one of the main reasons for the highest number of fatalities in the past four years. In just under nine days, 11 climbers were confirmed to have died.
Ameesha Chauhan, 29, from India, is one of the lucky survivors who returned from the brink of death after the Everest “traffic jam.” She is currently receiving treatment at a general hospital in Kathmandu after suffering from frostbite on the way to the summit. All the toes on her left foot have turned black and blue, while her face has also been severely injured.
Although she has returned home safely, she remains haunted by the terrifying experience of being a victim of the “traffic jam” on the roof of the world. The 29-year-old climber said she had to wait 20 minutes to start her descent from the 8,848-meter-high summit, while some others were stuck for hours.
“I saw some climbers without basic skills; they didn’t even know how to use an oxygen mask. They were completely dependent on the local guides. I think the government should add new criteria. Only trained climbers who meet the set criteria should be granted a permit to climb Everest,” Ameesha Chauhan said.
“Many climbers ran out of oxygen. Some died due to their own negligence. They insisted on climbing to the summit when their oxygen was depleted, endangering their own lives,” Ameesha Chauhan added.
Previously, another climber, Elia Saikaly, posted on his personal Instagram on May 26 about the horrific scene he witnessed when he reached the Everest summit and “could not believe what he saw there.”
“Death. Carnage. Chaos. Corpses in tents, along the path. People being dragged and we had to step over the bodies,” Elia Saikaly stated.
Unlike Ameesha Chauhan, two members of her group died on May 16, before they could fulfill their dream of conquering the roof of the world. “We lack rules and regulations to know how many people are truly capable of climbing this mountain,” said Kul Bahadur Gurung, General Secretary of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
Despite this, to this day, the Nepali government has no regulations to control the number of permits. Anyone with a doctor’s health certificate and the $11,000 fee can be granted a permit. This is a major loophole in management, but no one has yet spoken up to prevent this tragedy.