Photo: LUZ MARÍA GONZÁLEZ OLACIO / copyright
With their children busy with studies and work, the members of the Sifuentes González family had few opportunities to travel together.
That is why the holidays were so special that Ismael Sifuentes Rincón and Luz María González Olaciowith his kids Fernando, María José and Abril Sifuentes GonzálezThey were performing in India for a few days.
Tragically, all members of the family from northern Mexico lost their lives on Tuesday when the helicopter that took them to Mount Everest in Nepal crashed.
The Nepalese pilot also died in the accident Chet Bahadur Gurung. The Nepalese government announced an investigation to determine the causes of what happened on Tuesday.
“They were very happy to make the trip because the five of them were going to travel together. Before, two or three traveled, because Abril was a doctor and it was impossible for the five of them to go out together. And for that they were very happy,” a relative, Samuel Sifuentes, told the Vanguardia de Coahuila newspaper.
The National Institute of Cancerology expressed its condolences for the death of Abril Sifuentes, who was a resident physician at the institution.
“The news fell like a bomb,” lamented the relatives. “We found out through the press, something very sad.”
The Mexican ambassador to India, Federico Salas, reported that the Sifuentes González were in India and on Sunday they traveled to Nepal where they hired a service “this trip that is regularly made to the Himalayas, specifically to Mount Everest.”
The contracted company, Everest Experience and Assistance, was in charge of the tour in a helicopter operated by Manang Air, which had completed the flyover of Everest. On its return trip, the aircraft crashed in the Khumbu region.
Manang Air mourned the death of the pilot: “You may not be here anymore, but you are still in our hearts. Rest in peace, Captain Chet Bahadur Gurung.”
“They just wanted to see Everest”
Both Ismael Sifuentes Rincón and Luz González Olacio were known in Saint Petera town in the state of Coahuila, in northern Mexico. His children were born in Monterrey, the city where the family settled some 20 years ago.
Ismael Sifuentes was a businessman known in San Pedro for being a descendant of one of the founders of the municipality, Epitacio Sifuentes. Every year they held family reunions there.
“He came about a year ago, introduced his three children, his wife,” said Samuel Sifuentes.
On social networks, Luz María González and her daughter Abril regularly shared photos of their trips to different parts of the planet. The latter published a photo in front of the Taj Mahal in India on July 4.
The trip to Nepal was going to be quick: “They came just to see Everest. They couldn’t go anywhere else, not even Kathmandu,” said Mukti Pandey, the head of the tour company.
“They wanted to see the Khumbu region and the culture there. They only had one day to do it because they didn’t have a lot of time,” she added.
Lhakpa Sherpa, a local resident who joined the search and rescue efforts, said they found a “very scary” scene at the crash site.
“We heard the sound of the helicopter. We couldn’t see it because of the clouds. Then it crashed into a tree one kilometer from our house,” a neighbor in the area told the BBC’s Nepalese service.
The Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal DahalHe expressed his condolences on Twitter.
His government announced an investigation and cooperation with Mexico for the repatriation of the family’s bodies.
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See original article on BBC