India probes Everest deaths, questions Japanese team

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), a paramilitary police unit, said the Japanese could also face questions from other climbers at Everest base camp to explain the weekend deaths.

The three climbers, members of the border police, on Friday became the first Indians to reach the 29,042-foot summit from the north side.

The climbers are among eight mountaineers feared dead, including Scott Fischer and Rob Hall. Treacherous weather that hit Friday afternoon apparently caused the disaster.

Seven of the eight climbers who died had reached the top but failed to return to the safety of lower camps during severe blizzards, rescue officials and Nepal's Ministry of Tourism have reported.

The border police said the Japanese had initially pledged to help the search for the missing Indians. But hours later, they pressed on with their attempt to reach the summit, despite bad weather.

In a statement, the group confirmed that T. Samanla, Tsewang Paljor, and Dorje Morup died while descending from the peak.

The statement, based on information from the group's expedition leader, Mohinder Singh, said the three reached the summit at 6 p.m. on Friday but failed to return.

It said Singh, waiting at Camp VI at 27,450 feet (8,320 meters), swiftly received the offer of help from the Japanese team's leader, also at the camp.

The Japanese leader said his group would help mount a rescue effort, abandoning their own bid for the summit. Instead, the statement said, they set off at 4 a.m. on Saturday to climb Everest.

The Japanese team later told Singh they found one of the Indian climbers, believed to have been Tsewang Paljor, at an area known as Step One. A few feet above him, they found T. Samanla entangled in a rope, according to the statement.

The Japanese team freed T. Samanla and gave him water before he started down the mountain.

The statement said that on their return, the Japanese found Tsewang Paljor had gone from where he had been previously lying. His body was never seen again.

"If [T. Samanla] had no oxygen, supply of oxygen and escort would have certainly saved his life," the ITBP statement said.

The statement said the leader of a Slovenian team had been asked by all foreign teams to question the Japanese leader for his account. No further details were given.

This story written by Reuters correspondents.