Google executive among hundreds dead from Nepal quake


1 photo
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

NEW YORK (AP) — Dan Fredinburg, a Google executive who described himself as an adventurer, was among the hundreds who died in a massive earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday.

Google confirmed his death. Lawrence You, the company's director of privacy, posted online that Fredinburg was in Nepal with three other Google employees climbing Mount Everest. The other three, he added, are safe.

Google would not give further details. According to the technology blog Re/Code, Fredinburg was an experienced climber who co-founded, in his spare time, Google Adventure. The project aims to "translate the Google Street View concept into extreme, exotic locations like the summit of Mount Everest or the Great Barrier Reef off Australia," according to Startup Grind, a global startup community.

Fredinburg also helped start Save the Ice, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about global warming "through adventurous campaigns and events around the world," according to its website.

Fredinburg started at Google in 2007. He served as product manager and the head of privacy at Google X, the company's secretive arm best known for "moonshot" projects such as the self-driving car.

Google said it has launched a "person finder" tool for Nepal to help people find loved ones in the aftermath of the quake and "is working to get updated satellite imagery to aid in the recovery effort." Google says it is committing $1 million to the quake response.

The actress Sophia Bush, who has appeared in photos with Fredinburg posted by entertainment outlets, called him "one-of-a-kind" in a post on Instagram.

"A dancing robot who liked to ride dinosaurs and chase the sun and envision a better future for the world. His brain knew how to build it," she wrote. "His heart was constantly evolving to push himself to make it so."

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos

Related stories

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

BusinessU.S.
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast