Two Thai women died hiking the Himalayas

High up in the Himalayas, two Thai women met their demise while hiking in the extreme cold. The two women, aged 49 and 37, were part of a group hiking the famous Annapurna trail in Nepal when they fell ill and died. They were reported dead after descending to a base camp to the northwest of the Nepalese capital city of Kathmandu.

The pair of Thai women began their trek at the base of the Annapurna trail on November 11. They hiked up the Himalayas and on Thursday reached the world’s highest lake. Lake Tilicho sits at an altitude of 4,919 metres above sea level.

The women were hiking as part of a group of 22 other trekkers making the challenging ascent in freezing cold weather. This week, the temperature at the lake nearly 5,000 metres up averaged between -6 and -9 degrees Celsius with winds blowing up to 18 kilometres per hour.

Bangkok Post said that information was released by a Nepalese website called Mount Everest Today. They reported that the women struggled with the high altitude and severely cold weather on the hike. They made it back to the foot of the mountains at the Mesokanto La Pass. They have been continuing their descent from Manang to Mustang Village since they passed away.

The bodies of the two Thai women were airlifted out of the foot of the Himalayas. It is assumed that they have been transported back to Thailand, though no destination location was officially confirmed.