Seamus Lawless. Facebook

A Trinity College Dublin professor Seamus Lawless is missing while descending Mount Everest after he had reached the summit.

The Himalayan Times is reporting that Lawless fell from a balcony area at an altitude of 27,000 feet. He had made it to the summit on Thursday morning.

The Himalayan Times also reported, “Mingma Sherpa, Chairman at Seven Summit Treks, told THT that Seamus Sean Lawless, 39, one of the members of an eight-member expedition led by renowned Irish climber Noel Richard Hanna, went missing after he reportedly fell from an altitude of 8,300 m while descending from the summit.”

A full-scale effort is underway to find him. Lawless is an assistant professor in artificial intelligence at the School of Computer Science and Statistics in Trinity College.

The 39-year-old from Wicklow was dedicating the climb and raising funds for Barretstown Children’s Hospital which treats very ill children. Close to 300 people have died climbing Everest, most of the bodies never recovered.

Trinity College Dublin shared an image of Lawless, who is married with a four-year-old daughter, on top of the mountain on their official Twitter account on Thursday morning.

Read more: Irish Everest climber’s extraordinary escape in Nepal earthquake (VIDEOS)

In a previous interview with the Irish Independent, Lawless, along with his climbing partner Jenny Copeland, was hoping to raise €25,000 for Barretstown charity.

“Seamus and his family are in our thoughts during this extremely distressing time," said a spokesperson from Trinity College. 

“This morning his family, friends and colleagues shared his joy on reaching the peak of Mount Everest.

“We hope that Seamus is found safely as soon as possible and until then we will be offering any support we can to his family.”