DARJEELING: Eight-time Mount Everest climber Pemba Sherpa has gone missing while returning with a team of mountaineers after successfully scaling the 7,672 metre-high Saser Kangri peak in the Karakoram range.

According to police sources, the seasoned mountaineer from Darjeeling fell into a crevasse on Friday.

Pemba's wife told reporters that the family lost all communications with him since July 13 and she is hoping for a miracle to see her husband again.

"Last Friday, a representative of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) brought the news that Pemba Sherpa is missing," she said.

According to local police sources, an ITBP team has started conducting searches at the spot from this morning.

The Darjeeling administration is also keeping a close watch on the developments.

"We are worried about Pemba. He was a skilled person," Animesh Basu of Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation (NAF) in Siliguri said.

The team of mountaineers that Pemba was leading had begun its journey from Kolkata on June 20.

