An investigation into the case of a Nepali Sherpa guide who survived five days alone on Mount Everest after falling into a crevasse has been delayed because a key witness has yet to provide a statement, police said on Monday.

The Department of Tourism tasked Nepal's Tourist Police with investigating the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and rescue of Dawa Sherpa, a veteran high-altitude worker known in the climbing community as "Hillary Dawa", after the incident triggered widespread criticism of expedition safety practices.

"The investigation has not been completed because we have not yet recorded statements from all those concerned with the case," Krishna Raj Ojha, chief of Nepal's Tourist Police, told Everest Chronicle. "One person is expected to arrive in Kathmandu from Solukhumbu very soon. Once we take that statement, we should be able to submit the report within a couple of days."

Police had originally been expected to submit their findings around two weeks ago after most of the people involved gave statements soon after the incident. Dawa was airlifted to a Kathmandu hospital on June 4, and his family later filed a complaint against the expedition organiser. Ojha had previously said the report would be ready last week.

The case has drawn intense scrutiny within Nepal's mountaineering community after Dawa was found alive despite apparently spending nearly a week stranded at extreme altitude without food or supplemental oxygen.

The 57-year-old guide disappeared on May 29 while descending from a failed Everest summit attempt with the Himalayan Traverse Adventure. Near Camp III, his client reportedly continued descending after running critically low on oxygen, while Dawa remained behind.

He later fell into a crevasse at around 5,500 metres below Camp I and survived an extraordinary five-day ordeal in freezing temperatures before crawling out and making his way toward lower camps.

He was eventually found alive on June 4 near Crampon Point by a waste-management team from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee. By then, most expedition teams had already dismantled ladders through the Khumbu Icefall and returned to base camp as the spring climbing season ended.

According to his family, they had already begun funeral rites after being informed by his expedition organiser, Himalayan Traverse Adventure, that he was unlikely to be found alive.

The incident has sparked growing calls for accountability in Nepal's mountaineering industry.

Nepal's main climbing body, the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), has called for an independent inquiry, saying the circumstances surrounding the incident raised "serious ethical and humanitarian concerns".

The Everest Summiteers Association has also urged authorities to launch an independent investigation, saying Dawa was reportedly left behind during the descent near the Yellow Band above Camp III and that no formal rescue operation was launched for six days.

The calls came after Dawa's wife, Damu Sherpa, filed formal complaints with both the Department of Tourism and the NMA, alleging negligence in the handling of her husband's disappearance.

She accused expedition personnel of ignoring repeated requests to launch a search-and-rescue operation after he went missing and called for legal action against anyone found responsible. Her complaint also seeks the suspension of expedition-related permits and certifications linked to those involved until the investigation is completed.

The case has reignited debate over the treatment of Nepal's Sherpa workforce, whose members shoulder much of the dangerous work that makes commercial Everest expeditions possible, while raising fresh questions about rescue obligations and safety standards during the crowded Himalayan climbing season.

Hillary Dawa was discharged from hospital on June 11 and is recovering at home with his family.