An Israeli climber who was said to be 300 yards away from reaching the Everest summit abandoned his climb in order to assist an injured Turkish climber.

The Times of Israel reported that upon being rescued by a helicopter, Nadav Ben Yehuda was found to be suffering from severe frostbite which could have caused him to lose fingers. Eight people died climbing to the Everest summit this week.

Mr Ben Yehuda reportedly saw many bodies strewn along the summit's path. It has also been found that in addition to assisting the Turkish climber, he also helped two other injured climbers of British and Georgian nationality.

Had he reached his goal, the 24 year old would have been the youngest Israeli ever to scale Mount Everest.

Mr Ben Yehuda, during his preparation, had already triumphed in a stair-climbing competition at Ramat Gan's Moshe Aviv Tower, which involved 13 ascents of the skyscraper's 78 storeys.

The rescue comes almost two years after the clash on the Gaza-bound flotilla. Nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists died during fighting on board, an event which led to soured relations between Turkey and Israel.