- Play video
BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008
Olympic torch lit at Mount Everest summit
Thursday 08 May 2008
Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic flame reached the summit of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, state television showed. Weather had delayed the ascent for days. (Story: T. Adamson-Coumbousis)
Special Report On the Road to BeijingThursday 08 May 2008
By ReutersEVEREST BASE CAMP, China, May 8 (Reuters) - The Olympic torch
was lit at the top of Mount Everest on Thursday, the crowning
moment of the Beijing Games torch relay which had been dogged by
anti-Chinese protests on its world tour.
Three months to the day before the Games open, members of a
31-strong team reached the top of the 8,848-metre (29,030-ft)
peak carrying the Olympic flame in a lantern before lighting the
torch.
Weather had delayed the ascent for days.
Security around the world's highest mountain, which sits
astride the border of the Chinese region of Tibet and Nepal, was
tight as China sought to prevent any demonstrations marring the
spectacle.
Anti-Chinese protesters caused serious disruption to some
legs of the main torch relay on its journey around the world
after the deadly March 14 riots in Lhasa and subsequent unrest in
other Tibetan areas of China.
The climbing team, which included 22 Tibetans, eight Han
Chinese and one man from the Tujia minority, had been on the
mountain for more than a week preparing the route along the
north-east ridge.
Two days of snow at the weekend destroyed some of the roped
paths and camps but by Wednesday the penultimate camp at 7,790
metres was renovated and the climbers, also including three
women, braced for the final push.
Beijing organisers paused the main torch relay, which is
scheduled to pass through the southern city of Shenzhen on
Thursday, while the final push for the summit was taking place.
The Everest flame will be reunited with the main flame later
in the relay, possibly when it passes through Lhasa in mid-June.
There are no reactions so far.
