'Google adventurer' dies on Mount Everest

He was a Google engineer and avid climber who sought to take the company's Street View project to the world's tallest mountains.

Dan Fredinburg was at a base camp on Mount Everest when a powerful earthquake in Nepal set off an avalanche on Saturday. He was killed, Google stated on its website.

"Sadly, we lost one of our own in this tragedy," the statement said. "Dan Fredinburg, a longtime member of the Privacy organization in Mountain View, was in Nepal with three other Googlers, hiking Mount Everest. He has passed away. The other three with him are safe, and we are working to get them home quickly."

Shortly before, an Instagram post on Fredinburg's account went up: "This is Dan's little sister Megan," the message began. "I regret to inform all who loved him that during the avalanche on Everest early this morning our Dan suffered from a major head injury and didn't make it."

According to his LinkedIn page, Fredinburg had worked at Google since 2007, where he described himself as "Google Adventurer." He worked on Google's privacy team, recently helping to advise on high-profile projects, including the self-driving car and Project Loon, an attempt to use stratospheric balloons to deliver high-speed Internet to rural areas and the developing world.

© 2015 The New York Times News Service