Helicopters collide near Everest, killing 1

Two helicopters crashed into each other near Mount Everest in Nepal on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring three others, including both pilots, according to Nepal Police.

The collision took place at a helipad in the Solukhumbu district, as captured by a livestream weather camera operated by Webcam Nepal around 8 a.m. local time.

Both helicopters were attempting to land at the helipad in Pheriche, an area at approximately 4,200 meters elevation and on the route to an Everest base camp, according to Nabin Raja Budhathoki, deputy superintendent of police in Solukhumbu.

A pilot was the sole passenger on one helicopter, which was a commercial cargo craft operated by Air Dynasty and flying from Lukla to Pheriche. The other helicopter, operated by Fishtail Air, was returning from an Everest base camp with a pilot and two foreign passengers.

One of the foreign passengers, Vasanth Kumar Balaramudu from Chennai, India, died at the scene. The other passenger, Shailesh Krishan Patel from New Zealand, was seriously injured and airlifted to Nepal Mediciti Hospital in Kathmandu.

Both pilots were also injured. The Fishtail pilot was taken to a hospital near Kathmandu, while the Air Dynasty pilot was being treated in Lukla.