A Melbourne woman believed to have been on her first expedition to Mount Everest had “no chance” when an avalanche washed away her tent at base camp on the world’s highest mountain.
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Renu Fotedar, who had studied at UOW's Dubai campus, was among at least 19 people feared killed at the Everest base camp, with some 200 Australians believed to be still missing in Nepal after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday.
A Dreamers Destination Trek and Expeditions representative said Ms Fotedar’s body had been recovered and was being taken to the Nepalese capital.
“She’s on the way to Kathmandu right now,” he said from Nepal on Monday. “She’s from Australia.”
Ms Fotedar was a holistic and transpersonal counsellor, with her website noting that she was to be on a 59-day Everest expedition.
She had been living in Switzerland for three years.
Ms Fotedar’s LinkedIn profile says she earned a degree from the University of Wollongong in 1999 and ran businesses in Victoria from 2005 to 2012.
A worried cousin told The Times of India that she was last contacted at the Makalu Base Camp and was to climb to the Mt Everest Base Camp 1 on Friday.
“She has two young boys 17 and 15 years old who are anxious to hear some news about her,” Ashish Kaul said on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said more than 850 Australians were confirmed safe so far in Nepal.
More than 3600 people have died in the quake with about 6000 injured, buildings destroyed and morgues and hospitals overflowing in Kathmandu, as powerful aftershocks continue and people camp outside in cold and wet conditions.
Hundreds of mountaineers were at Mount Everest at the start of the annual climbing season.
