CHINESE border guards who fired on Tibetan refugees heading for the border near Mount Everest killed a Buddhist nun and possibly one other person.

The report by the International Campaign For Tibet (ICT) could not be independently confirmed and there was no immediate comment from the Chinese or Nepalese governments.

However, several climbers reported watching in horror from Everest’s Advance Base Camp as the border guards started shooting early last Saturday morning.

The climbers said that two of the Tibetans fell, one of whom got up later and disappeared, while the other remained lying in the snow until the border guards took the body away the next day.

They said that the Tibetans were approaching the 18,753ft Nangpa Pass.

A British mountaineer told The Times that he had been told what happened by colleagues on his return to Advance Base Camp 48 hours later.

“The whole thing was witnessed,” he said. “There was good evidence. At least four people I trust completely saw what happened.” He declined to be identified because he wanted to return to Tibet.

ICT said that 43 of the Tibetan refugee party, which included children as young as 10, reached Nepalese territory safely and were now en route to the Tibetan Refugees Reception Center in Kathmandu.

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