HYDERABAD (TIP): Over 20 mountaineers from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were on their way home via Lhasa after Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA) on April 30 rescued them from Everest base camp, where they had been stranded following the Nepal earthquake.

Nalgonda resident Shekhar Babu-led climbers planned to scale the world’s highest mountain from dangerous North Col.

They had stayed put at the camp as avalanches triggered by the earthquake had blocked the highway connecting Nepal and China.

“The team is safe and will be reaching Lhasa on Friday evening,” said a representative from Hyderabad’s Transcend Adventures that had organized the expedition. He said the climbers would be flown from Lhasa to India.

As posted on the adventure club’s Facebook wall, Nima Tsering, vice-chairman, CMA, visited the base camp and told the climbers that they will be taken down, much to the relief of team leader Shekhar Babu and his boys.

Tsering also carried some good news with him, which brought some cheer and relief to the mountaineers who pay huge sums to plan a trip to Everest. The CMA said the registration fee of the climbers for this year would hold good for the next three years.

“We are grateful for this gesture,” said Prithvi Raj, a representative from the adventure club.

Anxious family members have been calling the club with queries about their loved ones. “We have informed them and they are relieved that they are safe and are being escorted to safety,” said Raj. The team will return to India in a few days time.