MOUNTAIN VIEW (dpa-AFX) - A Google Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) executive who was in Nepal to climb Mount Everest was among those killed in a massive earthquake on Saturday.
Dan Fredinburg suffered a 'major head injury' when he was caught in an avalanche following the earthquake, his sister Megan wrote in a post on Fredinburg's Instagram account, where he had been documenting his trip.
The head of Google's privacy unit, Lawrence You, confirmed the death in a blog post.
Lawrence said ,'Sadly, we lost one of our own in this tragedy. Dan Fredinburg a long-time member of the Privacy organization in Mountain View, was in Nepal with three other Googlers, hiking Mount Everest. He has passed away. The other three Googlers with him are safe and we are working to get them home quickly.'
The Crisis Response team has launched Person Finder for Nepal, and is working to get updated satellite imagery to aid in the recovery effort. Google.org is committing $1 million to the response, and we'll have gift-matching available soon.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck approximately 50 miles northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal at 11:41 a.m. local time Saturday.Tremors were felt across northern India and neighboring Bangladesh and Pakistan. Aftershocks continued throughout the day, one of which measured at a magnitude of 6.6. Damage to infrastructure is significant, and more than 1,400 people are confirmed dead, with the death toll expected to rise. It is reported to be the most powerful earthquake to hit Nepal in 81 years.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX