- Title: Nepal closes Mt Everest due to coronavirus fears
- Date: 13th March 2020
- Summary: MOUNT EVEREST, NEPAL (FILE - 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOUNT EVEREST MOUNT EVEREST, NEPAL (FILE - APRIL 3, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AERIAL VIEW OF MOUNT EVEREST MOUNT EVEREST, NEPAL (FILE) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOUNT EVEREST
- Embargoed: 27th March 2020 06:36
- Keywords: Mount Everest climbing season closure coronavirus
- Location: MOUNT EVEREST, NEPAL
- City: MOUNT EVEREST, NEPAL
- Country: Nepal
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001C4VVNLZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Nepal has closed all of its Himalayan peaks including Mount Everest this climbing season because of fears of the coronavirus outbreak, a government minister said on Friday (March 13).
The suspension of expeditions in Nepal during March-May will affect hundreds of foreign climbers now preparing for the spring season, a window or relatively good weather between the end of the bitterly cold winter and the rainy season, which begins in June. Everest, the world's highest mountain at 8,850 metres (29,035 feet), is on the border between Nepal and the Chinese region of Tibet. China announced the closure of its side of the mountain on Thursday (March 12).
Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains including Mount Everest, gets more than four million dollars in permit fees for the world's highest peak and other mountains every year. It is the second time in recent years that the climbing season has been disrupted. Expeditions were suspended in 2015 after a major earthquake struck Nepal on April 25 that year, killing some 9,000 people.
(Production: Masako Iijima) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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