An Indian-born Australian woman, who was at a base camp preparing to climb Mt Everest, has been confirmed to be among the 20 killed in the avalanche triggered by the Nepal earthquake.
As the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed Australian woman’s death, trekking company Dreamers Destination said the body of Renu Fotedar is in the process of delivery to Kathmandu from the Makalu First camp.
Earlier Monday the foreign minister Julie Bishop said the safety of more than 830 Australians in Nepal were confirmed, but there were “grave concerns” for at least one Australian.
On her website Renu Fotedar described herself as a transpersonal counsellor with “first hand experience of working with people from different walks of life, in the leading markets of India, Middle East, Australia and Europe”.
According to her resume, the 48-year-old mother of two studied an MBA degree at the University of Wollongong in 1997-1999 and worked in Victoria from 2005 to 2012. She has been living in Switzerland for three years before travelling to Nepal to climb Mt Everest for the first time.
Her family based in Mumbai told the Times of India they had been desperate for news after last speaking to her at base camp.
“She has two young boys 17 and 15 years old who are anxious to hear some news about her,” the newspaper quoted Ashish Kaul, Fotedar’s cousin as saying.
The Red Cross missing people list says Fotedar was 48 and had been living in Montreux.
Nepalese authorities reported on Monday that at least 3 617 people had been confirmed dead and more than 5,000 people were injured in the M-7.9 earthquake. A large number of people have either lost their homes or live in the streets because of the fear of aftershocks. The United Nations has said that over 6 million people have been affected by the quake.
