Michael Liu Bloomberg started his journey to the Mardi base camp on Saturday at 4 AM, which is positioned at a height of 3,580 meters above sea level. He had left for the camp from Hotel Magic Mountain, where he had previously stayed.
The hotel manager, Mr. Megh Bahadur Tamang, saw him until they reached the first viewpoint. At a higher point, around 4,500 meters up, he was last seen by Michael, who had bought a bottle of water from the hotel before leaving.
Ram Gurung, the ward chairperson of Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality-8, mentioned that he completed the tourism fee form for the temporary camp set up by the rural municipality at Low Camp. However, Gurung added that he hadn’t been in touch since then.
According to Shravan Kumar Vikak, the spokesperson of the District Police Office in Kaski, a team led by senior sergeant Sushil Lamichhane was dispatched to Mardi on Saturday to find Michael. He confirmed that the police team was on their way but hadn’t reached the location yet. Additionally, Dan Bahadur Paudel, who knows the area well, was sent with the police team, as mentioned by Gurung, the ward chairperson.
Losing one’s way during the Mardi trek isn’t a new occurrence similar incidents have happened previously. Local tourism entrepreneur Kavita Gurung explained that accidents often happen due to tourists not being familiar with the area. She highlighted that some foreign tourists go trekking without a guide and ignore their physical health, leading to such incidents.
