Exec Killed in Everest Avalanche, Google Commits $1M to Response Efforts
By Riya Bhattacharjee, Vince Cestone and Cheryl Hurd ••
A Google executive has been confirmed dead in an avalanche at Mount Everest triggered by a massive earthquake. Cheryl Hurd reports.
Google executive Dan Fredinburg was confirmed dead in an avalanche on Mount Everest which was triggered by a massive 7.8 earthquake in Nepal Saturday that claimed over 3,200 lives.
An international crisis is developing in Southeast Asia where a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal. As of Saturday night, the death toll continues to rise with at least 1,800 deaths reported. One of the victims is Google’s executive engineer, Dan Fredinburg. We have team coverage. NBC Bay Area’s Peggy Bunker, Terry McSweeney, and Kelly Cobiella report.
Fredinburg, 33, was a privacy director on the Google X team, and was involved in projects such as the driverless car. He was climbing Mt. Everest with three other Googlers during the avalanche when he received a major head injury and passed away, his sister Megan wrote in an Instagram post.
"We appreciate all of the love that has been sent our way thus far and know his soul and his spirit will live on in so many of us," his sister wrote. "All our love and thanks to those who shared this life with our favorite hilarious strong willed man. He was and is everything to us."
At least 1,400 people are dead after a large 7.8 earthquake in Nepal. On Saturday night, rescuers are searching through the rubble, looking for anyone still missing. NBC Bay Area has team coverage. NBC’s Kelly Cobiella has the latest on what’s happening in Nepal. Peggy Bunker reports on the death of a Google executive as a result of the quake....
Fredinburg's boss, Google privacy director Lawrence You, wrote that the Google Crisis Response team has launched a "Person Finder" for Nepal, and is working to update satellite images to help with the recovery effort.[[301324921, C]]
Google is also committing $1 million to the response effort and plans to have gift-matching efforts available for their employees soon. "Our thoughts are with the people of Nepal, and with Dan’s family and friends during this terrible time," You said. You added that the three other Googlers who were hiking Mt. Everest with Fredinburg are safe and Google is initiating efforts to bring them back to the U.S. safely.
Fredinburg's Instagram and Twitter page is filled with pictures and posts about his Everest trek. "I want everyone to think like Google [x] and have the heart of an adventurer," his Instagram page says. His last Twitter post is on April 24. "Day 22: Ice training with @michelebattelli means frequent stops for morning cappuccino," it says.
Actress Sophia Bush, who dated Fredinburg from 2013 to 2014, posted on instagram that the loss has left her with "no adequate words." "Today I find myself attempting to pick up the pieces of my heart that have broken into such tiny shards, I'll likely never find them all," Bush wrote. "Today I, and so many of my loved ones, lost an incredible friend. Dan Fredinburg was one-of-a-kind. Fearless. Funny."[[301326221, C]]
Bush described Fredinburg as a "a dancing robot who liked to ride dinosaurs and chase the sun and envision a better future for the world." "His brain knew how to build it. His heart was constantly evolving to push himself to make it so," she wrote.
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Exile Tibetans and supporters hold photographs showing the devastation in Nepal during a candlelit vigil in solidarity with the people affected by the earthquake in Nepal and the border areas of India and China, in Dharmsala, India, Sunday, April 26, 2015.
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A general view of the Basantapur Durbar Square that was damaged in Saturday’s earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, April 26, 2015.
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Mountaineers and Nepalese Sherpa guides evacuated from Everest Base Camp wait to board a rescue chopper to be flown to Lukla, in Pheriche, Nepal, Sunday, April 26, 2015.
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A Hindu man breaks down during a funeral of Saturday’s earthquake victims on the Pashupatinath bank of Bagmati river, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, April 26, 2015.
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In this photo provided by Azim Afif, people are examined for injuries and prepared for helicopter evacuation at the International Mount Guide (IMG) camp at Everest Base Camp, Nepal on Sunday, April 26, 2015. An avalanche triggered by Nepal's massive earthquake slammed into a section of the Mount Everest mountaineering base camp Saturday, killing a number of people and left others unaccounted for. Afif and his team of four others from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) all survived the avalanche.
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A man walks past damage caused by an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
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Volunteers help with rescue work at the site of a building that collapsed after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
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In this photo provided by Azim Afif people approach the scene after an avalanche triggered by a massive earthquake swept across Everest Base Camp, Nepal on Saturday, April 25, 2015. Afif and his team of four others from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) all survived the avalanche. (Azim Afif via AP)
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In this photo provided by Azim Afif a man approaches the scene after an avalanche triggered by a massive earthquake swept across Everest Base Camp, Nepal on Saturday, April 25, 2015. Afif and his team of four others from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) all survived the avalanche. (Azim Afif via AP)
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Indian soldiers on rescue mission to Nepal, board an Indian Air Force aircraft near New Delhi, India, Sunday, April 26, 2015. A strong magnitude-7.8 earthquake shook Nepal's capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley before noon Saturday, causing extensive damage with toppled walls and collapsed buildings, officials said.(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
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Rescuers clear the debris at Durbar Square after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
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A car stands under the weight of an electric pole after it collapsed following an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015. The strong magnitude-7.8 earthquake shook Nepal's capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley before noon Saturday, causing extensive damage with toppled walls and collapsed buildings, officials said. A magnitude-6.6 aftershock hit about an hour later, and smaller aftershocks continued to ripple through the region for hours.
Lindsay Bozanich
Here is a photo of the aftermath in Kathmandu after the earthquake.
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Here, injured people receive treatment outside the Medicare Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
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An injured man receives treatment outside the Medicare Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015. The earthquake also destroyed hundreds of homes and ancient temples.
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In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a collapsed building is seen in Nepal's capital Kathmandu Saturday, April 25, 2015.
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A group of people gather outdoors as an earthquake hits Kathmandu city, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
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An injured child lies on the ground outside the Medicare Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
Buildings like this one in Kathmandu were destroyed after the earthquake hit.
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A man carries a dog and walks past damage caused by an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
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Rescuers look for victims under a building that collapsed after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
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A collapsed building is seen in Nepal's capital Kathmandu April 25, 2015. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal at 2:11 p.m.
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A crane removes debris from the site of a building that collapsed in an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015. A strong magnitude-7.8 earthquake shook Nepal's capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley before noon Saturday, causing extensive damage with toppled walls and collapsed buildings, officials said.
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In this photo provided by Guna Raj Luitel, an injured woman is carried just after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
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People stand around damage caused by an earthquake at Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
Lindsay Bozanich
People are seen here waiting nervously as tremors continue in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 25, 2015.
Mike North, one of Friedenberg's closest friends, said that Friedenberg's passion was climate change. “He is the most incredible person I have ever met in my life,” North said. "His will to do anything is beyond anyone else’s I have ever seen."
North found out early Sunday that Fredinburg was killed in the avalanche triggered by the 7.8 earthquake. Fredinburg’s girlfriend broke the news. “It was pretty garbled but basically what I heard was that the avalanche had come to the camp," North said. "He seemed all right at first but then wasn’t and he ultimately passed away."
North said Fredinburg had "two Everests he had to climb on this trip." "The first Everest, which was the hardest, was getting Google to allow him to go climb Everest — the second, climbing Everest," he said.
Video footage shows Fredinburg zipping himself up in yellow North Face gear, as he gets ready for last year’s Mt. Everest trip. He can be heard saying: “This is how you get ready for Everest.” That trip was also a tragic one, because several of his sherpas died in the avalanche. “After that he went to an orphanage there — so this year he was planning to dedicate the climb to all the orphans," North said.
He also planned to plant a flag on top of Mount Everest with the word “NEAT” on it promoting his organization SaveTheIce.org, a goal he was not able to accomplish. "He was in his early 30s, so if you want to talk about lives affected, if he had been able to live a complete life, we could be talking about a billion lives that could be benefacted by this man,” North said.
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