Mountain climber Noel Hanna dies coming down from Annapurna in Nepal

Northern Irish mountain climber Noel Hanna died Monday night while descending from Annapurna mountain in the Himalayas in Nepal.

The 56-year-old renowned adventurer had just returned from the 26,545-foot peak after reaching the summit last Wednesday when he died at Camp 4.

“His body has been brought down and flown to Kathmandu,” Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks told AFP from the mountain’s base camp.

During his life, Hanna climbed Everest 10 times and reached the highest point on every continent. In 2018, he became the first person from the Irish island to climb K2 in Pakistan, according to the BBC. Irene Hunter, his sister, told BBC News NI’s Evening Extra that the mountaineer “loved a view” and was “a legend.”

“Unfortunately it’s the game we play. It’s not called the death zone for nothing,” Irish mountaineer Pat Falvey told The Irish Times. “By the law of averages, the mountains do take a life back. He was doing what he loved and he knew this. We have lost one of the best.”

Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain in the world, is deadlier than Everest and considered one of the most technically difficult mountains to climb because of its steep routes. It is also prone to avalanches and rapidly changing weather conditions. It was first climbed by Maurice Herzog of France in 1950.

Yubaraj Khatiwada, an official of Nepal’s Department of Tourism, told Irish broadcaster RTÉ that the circumstances of Hanna’s death are still unclear.

Indian climbers Baljeet Kaur, 28, and Arjun Vajpai, 30, were rescued on the mountain Tuesday in an unrelated incident. Another 34-year-old Indian climber was still missing after falling into a crevasse on Monday.

Hanna’s death follows the deaths of three Nepali climbers on Everest who were swept into a crevasse by a falling block of ice.