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French Spiderman climbs Paris skyscraper for Nepal quake victims

The French 'Spiderman' Alain Robert on Tuesday climbed up the highest building in Paris with a Nepalese flag in his pocket as a tribute to the more than 5,000 people who died in the weekend's earthquake. Some 560 French nationals have not been located and a third is believed to have died.

French climber Alain Robert, also known as "Spiderman", scales the Tour Montparnasse for Nepal on Tuesday
French climber Alain Robert, also known as "Spiderman", scales the Tour Montparnasse for Nepal on Tuesday Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes
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Robert, 53, scaled the 210-metre Tour de Montparnasse without a safety harness in just below an hour on Tuesday.

During the climb he tried to fix the Nepalese flags and prayer flags to the building but they failed to stay attached.

Before setting off he said that his thoughts were with mountaineers stranded at the Everest base camp, where many people died in avalanches set off by the quake.

French climber Alain Robert holds the flag of Nepal as he scales the Tour Montparnasse on Tuesday
French climber Alain Robert holds the flag of Nepal as he scales the Tour Montparnasse on Tuesday Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes

Robert has climbed more than 130 structures all over the world, never using ropes or safety equipment.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius said that 560 French nationals, of the 2,050 who were in Nepal at the time of the quake, have still not been located.

Two French tourists were reported dead on Monday and Fabius said that there is reason to believe that another was killed in an avalanche and his partner injured.

About 20 French citizens have been injured.

The latest death toll on Tuesday afternoon stood at 5,057 with more than 10,000 injured.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told the Reuters news agency that the final toll could be as high as 10,000.

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