KATHMANDU, May 28: A helicopter carrying porters for the 50th anniversary celebrations of Mount Everest’s conquest crashed on Wednesday near Base Camp, killing two and injuring seven others.

The privately owned Mi-17 from Kathmandu veered off course within sight of Base Camp’s tents, hurling debris into the air. Two passengers were killed, Nepal’s Civil Aviation Rescue Cell said.

The Simrik Air chopper carried five porters, a mountain guide and four crew members and was to have picked up summiters fresh from their climb of the world’s tallest mountain.

Dozens of mountaineers have been attempting the 8,848-meter Mount Everest, many seeking to break records, to celebrate the May 29, 1953 ascent by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa.

The dead were identified by an airport official as mountain porter Phudorji Sherpa and cabin attendant Anup Dewan.

“The chopper was completely damaged when it tried to land at a helipad about 100 meters away,” the aviation rescue cell said in a statement. The cause of the crash was being investigated.

The airport official said the helicopter had left Kathmandu early Wednesday and stopped at Lukla airport in northwestern Nepal before heading on to Base Camp.

Among the injured were a German woman, Cris Lising, who was walking near Base Camp when the helicopter crashed.

She was listed in serious condition at B and B hospital in Lalitpur on the outskirts of Kathmandu, where the victims were rushed by a Nepalese army rescue helicopter.—AFP