Kathmandu: Dawa Sherpa, a tourism worker from Okhaldhunga who had been missing in the Everest Base Camp area for the past week has been found alive in a critical condition on Thursday morning.

According to Ngawang Jima Sherpa, former board member of the Nepal Tourism Board, workers from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) discovered Sherpa crawling toward Everest Base Camp from the Khumbu Icefall area and rescued him.

Sherpa, popularly known as “Hillary,” is a resident of Khijidemba Rural Municipality in Okhaldhunga and had been working as a support staff member for climbers in the Everest region. He went missing a week ago while returning to Base Camp.

Despite aerial search efforts conducted by helicopter around Camp III and nearby areas, rescuers had been unable to locate him.

SPCC Executive Director Chhiring Sherpa said Sherpa was found near the Khumbu Icefall crampon point early Thursday morning. He was suffering from severe frostbite on his hands and feet when rescuers reached him.

He has been provided with initial medical treatment and food and his condition is reported to be stable. Arrangements are being made to evacuate him by helicopter for further treatment.

The mountaineering community has described Sherpa’s survival and rescue after a week in the harsh high altitude environment as nothing short of miraculous.