Hawari, who is hearing-impaired, was reported missing yesterday after he had reached the summit of Everest, the highest mountain on Earth.

Magendran, the first Malaysian to reach the summit, said the slopes of Mount Lhotse are very steep. Climbers who slip are likely to fall on the glaciers at the mountain’s base.

“The area at the foot of Mount Lhotse is quite wide and it will take a long time to search. Moreover, if the victim fell into the ice fissure, the search efforts will be more difficult,” he said in an interview with Bernama TV.

However, he recalled that in 1997 a sherpa was successfully rescued after he slipped and fell down the Lhotse slopes from 1,000m.

Magendran expressed concern about whether Hawari had brought enough oxygen for the descent down the dangerous slopes of Mount Lhotse.

Hawari is a member of the Malaysia Everest 2023 mission. He was reported missing while descending from Camp 4 after scaling Everest.

The day before, another Malaysian climber, Kedah Civil Defence Force director Lt Col Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacub, 56, died in a fall from 8,000m.

Another national climber, Muqharabbin Mokhtarrudin, called for a thorough investigation into the two incidents.

He said extensive preparation and training were required to scale the mountain, but also prior experience with steep snow climbing.

“Even if we have money and sponsors, we may not be able to summit Everest. I had to train for over two years at home and abroad, and I visited Nepal several times before making it to the top of Everest in 2004,” he said.