KATHMANDU: The story that would usually have told about the glorious exploits of mankind, have more often than not turned into gruesome stories of death and disaster. This is what happened on the night of May10, 1996 when a sudden storm killed eight mountaineers of a Taiwanese team on an expedition to Mt Everest. Fortunately, Makalu Ming Ho Gau, climber photographer and the leader of the team, survived to tell the story.

Former editor of The Japan Times Weekly, Yoichi Shimatsu accompanied by Ming Ho Gau at a press meet organised at Jatra Café on May 7, screened a documentary Prayer Flags. The 30-minute documentary is Makaluu Gau’s pilgrimage of remembrance and reconciliation. It also unravels the ordeals that he Gau experienced during the expedition where seven of his friends died.

Prayer Flags takes a hard new look at the causes of the disaster and debunks Krakauer’s version of the reportedly fabricated story in Into Thin Air.

At the press meet, Shimatsu also talked about the scientific malpractice and government’s irresponsibility that resulted in the disaster. — HNS