Singaporean climber Shrinivas Sainis, who went missing after reaching the summit of Mount Everest last week, remains missing despite concerted search attempts to locate him by search and rescue teams.
Sharing the tragic news on Instagram, his wife posted a lengthy and poignant update on the situation, thanking those involved in trying to find her husband.
Sainis had previously sent his wife a message telling her that he had reached the summit of the mountain, but that he couldn’t make it back down.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ response
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that since the onset of the situation, the Singapore High Commission in New Delhi has been keeping in close contact with Sainis’ family, and that they will continue to extend consular assistance and support to the family.
They also extended their condolences to the family and expressed their appreciation to all the authorities involved in the search and rescue efforts.
His wife’s post on Instagram
Shrinivas Sainis, my husband, left on his Mount Everest expedition from Singapore on April 1st with the aim to summit Mount Everest and then Mount Lhoste in a single expedition. He would have been one of the few in South East Asia and the first Singaporean Indian to do so.
I witnessed his focus, rigour, and discipline in training to achieve this feat while also managing his work commitments as an Executive Director. Judicious, meticulous and sharp — Shri was extraordinary. Only few can dare to dream the way he did. Having successively scaled a higher mountain every year, including all 8163m of Manaslu, Shri fully understood the gravity of such dreams.
He successfully summited the peak of Mount Everest at 8848m on 19 May 2023.
However, he developed HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) and could not make it back down.
He was 39 — and in his glorious and rich life, he lived fearlessly and to the fullest. He explored the depths of the sea and scaled the greatest height of the Earth. And now, Shri is in the mountains — where he felt most at Home.
I am humbled to have witnessed him and all that he stood for. I am incredibly proud of him and feel lucky to have experienced life and death through him.
The search and rescue team was unable to locate him despite their best efforts. I want to thank his guide, Dendi Sherpa, for being his trusted companion through all the formidable Himalayan mountains and always putting Shri first, even before himself. Shri was so fond of Dendi Sherpa and their bond was special.
I also thank all the Sherpas from Seven Summits and others from the climbing community who put their lives at risk to look for Shri in such inhospitable terrain. You are all such warriors, thank you.
My love to my family and friends (some even flying across the world) for carrying this on their shoulders, coordinating and executing everything that needed to be done.
I thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore especially Sean Lim and Joey Lim from the Singapore High Commission in New Delhi for being rocks to me and my family immediately, from the onset and through the last week. I also want to thank the Singapore Embassy in Beijing, HE P Kumaran from the Indian High Commission of Singapore and the Nepalese and Chinese Governments for their support.
The exhaustive search for Shri would not have been possible without the steadfast backing of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). I was moved by how prompt everyone was in offering their generous and unconditional support. Shri was always proud to be part of the JLL family and I have come to see how loved he was in return.
As we continue to navigate this difficult period, we humbly request for the space and privacy to grieve and in time, heal. We would not be taking any further media queries.
Thank you everyone for the love and concern. We are deeply touched.
Love
Sushma