Ace mountaineer Dipankar Ghosh goes missing on Mt Makalu in Nepal

Ace mountaineer Dipankar Ghosh has reportedly gone missing on Nepal's Mount Makalu, the world's fifth highest peak in, expedition organisers confirmed on Friday.

"Dipankar Ghosh has gone missing from the high camp of Mt. Makalu while he was returning from the expedition," said Mingma Sherpa from Seven Summit Treks.

A search team, which reached the area from where the climber is suspected to have gone missing above the high camp during his descent after scaling Mount Makalu however, failed to trace him, the sherpa told The Himalayan Times.

Ghosh, 52, a resident of Kolkata, had last year successfully ascended Mount Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world on the China-Nepal border, 20 kilometres west of Mount Everest.

He had previously, also ascended Mount Dhaulagiri (in 2017), Mount Manaslu (in 2016), Mount Annapurna-I (in 2015), Mount Kanchenjunga (in 2014), Mount Makalu (in 2013), Mount Lhotse (in 2012) and Mount Everest (in 2011).

Meanwhile, Narayan Singh, a member of the maiden Indian Army expedition to Mt Makalu died at the height of 8,200 metres when he, along with other members, was descending from the summit point on Thursday night, the Sherpa confirmed.

The Indian Army soldier breathed his last after he suffered from high altitude sickness on the descent.

The Indian Army expedition to Mt Makalu, which is 8485 metres high, consisted of 18 members and was flagged off for the first time from Delhi on March 27.

The team had begun their journey towards the Makalu Base Camp on April 02.

The expedition is led by Major Manoj Joshi and comprises of four officers, two Junior Commissioned Officers and 11 other ranks.

Mt Makalu is considered amongst the most dangerous peaks and summiting the peak is considered extremely challenging due to inclement weather conditions and freezing temperatures.