Malaysia climber at hospital after 2 days alone on Annapurna

Malaysian climber Wui Kin Chin receives treatment in a hospital after he was recovered alive near the summit of Mount Annapurna in Nepal two days after he went missing, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, April 26, 2019. Chin was spotted by a search party in a helicopter and was being taken by four rescuers to the closest camp, said Mingma Sherpa, the head of Seven Summit Treks. He said the helicopter, one of three deployed to search for him, had seen him waving his hands at the aircraft Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

The wife of Malaysian climber Wui Kin Chin talks to doctors after her husband was recovered alive near the summit of Mount Annapurna in Nepal two days after he went missing, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, April 26, 2019. Chin was spotted by a search party in a helicopter and was being taken by four rescuers to the closest camp, said Mingma Sherpa, the head of Seven Summit Treks. He said the helicopter, one of three deployed to search for him, had seen him waving his hands at the aircraft Thursday morning. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

KATHMANDU, Nepal – A Malaysian mountain climber was being treated in a hospital in Nepal's capital Friday after being stranded nearly two days alone near the summit of Annapurna.

A helicopter crew searching for the missing climber on Thursday spotted Wui Kin Chin waving his hands at them, and rescuers brought him down to a lower camp.

At the time of his rescue, Chin had been without an oxygen bottle, food and water for over 40 hours, said Mingma Sherpa, the head of Seven Summit Treks, which arranged his expedition.

Chin was flown to the capital, Kathmandu, on Friday and taken to a hospital, where his wife joined him.

Chin is an anesthesiologist and accomplished climber, and Sherpa credited Chin's medical knowledge and familiarity with mountains for keeping him alive.

"It's a big thing to stay alive in that altitude without food, water, and oxygen," Sherpa said. He described Chin on Thursday as fine but not in condition to walk.

Chin was a part of a 13-member expedition led by a French climber and was separated from the others during the descent.

The 8,091-meter (26,545-foot) Mount Annapurna is the ninth tallest mountain in Nepal and the 10th tallest in the world. It's considered an especially treacherous mountain due to its difficult terrain and weather conditions.