194 climbers atop Mt. Qomolangma

Among 17 teams given permission from Nepali government for spring 2006, 194 mountaineers of 25 different countries scaled the world's highest Mt. Qomolangma till Sunday, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said Monday.

According to the list of Summiteers of Spring 2006, Nepal is the top with a total number of 104 mountaineers, the United States 19 and Britain 16.

Mountaineers from other countries scaling the peak were including India, South Korea, Poland, New Zealand, Switzerland, Philippines, Australia, South Africa, France, China, Scotland, Bolivia, Austria, Germany, Brazil, Russia, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy and Belgium.

Two climbers Tenzing Norgey Sherpa and Edmund Hillary reached the top successfully on May 29, 1953.

Some 1,700 mountaineers have so far successfully climbed the 8,848-meter peak from the southern face in the 53 years.

Source: Xinhua