Man dies after digging his way out of avalanche

An Australian couple survived for six hours buried under ice and snow after an avalanche in Tibet only for the husband to die after descending the mountain.

Wendy Higgins and her company director husband Dean, from Adelaide, were camping on the slopes of Mount Everest with two other Australians when disaster struck on Tuesday.

The pair were reportedly buried by snow with the husband, 60, wearing only a T-shirt, managing to dig them out after six hours.

They then spent eight hours battling to reach safety in the dark, at which point Mr Higgins died, reportedly “as a result of altitude sickness, poor health, and age”.

Julie Mahony, a family friend, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “They were under the snow for about six hours and Dean dug them out of the snow. They had to get down the mountain to safety and that took approximately eight hours. We’re not exactly sure what happened, but he was alive until they got down the bottom.”

Chinese state media said three local porters died in the avalanche with sources within saying the group “entered a restricted area on the mountain without permission”.