Sadness in Nepal

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33806, 1 April 1975, Page 16

Sadness in Nepal

A* Z P. 4 Reuter —Copyright)

KATMANDU. March 31

The crash in which . Lady Hillary and her I daughter, Belinda, died ; has sent waves of sor- ’ row through the local . and foreign communi* • ties in Katmandu. i The whole family was : loved for the social work that came from their love of the Himalayas and the people in the mountainous kingdom of s Nepal. 1 Flying everywhere by ■ helicopter and small aircraft between the snowcapped ranges had become commonplace for the Hillary family. Sir Edmund and Lady Hillary were in the middle of their latest project, a hospital Inear Mount Everest at I Phaphlu. There are no roads in that] ipart of the world where the, ] people live at altitudes of: ■lO.OOO feet and more. i They had already set up a 'hospital for Sherpas at the i village of Kunde in 1966. : There were no roads in the ;area, and few facilities of any] ■ kind, but the lack of these! things did not bother them J and that is one of the reasons' : why they were so loved. Lady Hillary was no great mountaineer, but she shared! her husband’s deep attach-;' ment to the snows and peaks of the Himalayas, and the ■

I Sherpas and their toughi: i lives. , She came to Nepal with Sir ' Edmund on a number ofi: trips, and wrote two books : 1 about them. .. r As messages of condolence 1 pour in, Sir Edmund has said . he has no plans to return to i New Zealand at present. 1 There was the hospital to ■ finish at Phaphlu, and its completion would be a fitting memorial to those who died s today, he said. g Lady Hillary was the daughter of a former presij dent of the New Zealand Alpine Club, Mr James Rose, of Auckland. In a tribute to ’ Lady Hillary, the present president of the Alpine Club 1 (Mr N. D. Hardie, of Christ- i ' church) said last night: i “Louise Hillary was a I J talented musician, and be- ; • came an enthusiastic writer, j ' who had three travel books t published. “She was always a very Lstrong supporter of her hus-i band’s expeditions, and later f of his many aid projects. • “She was highly regarded I, 1 in many countries, and her;’ ) own achievements in aid to

Sherpas were outstanding Her leadership in Himalayan 11 rust Committee work and in I fund-raising projects will be sadly missed,” Mr Hardie said.