An Australian tourist died in an avalanche on Mount Everest on Wednesday.

The Aussie tourist was identified as Dean Higgins, 60 years old.

In a report from ABC, a friend of Mr Higgins and his wife Wendy Higgins shared that Mr Higgins had actually managed to dig himself out of the avalanche after he dug Mrs Higgins out to safety.

Julie Mahony, the couple's friend, told ABC that it took the husband and wife eight hours to get to the bottom of the mountain, but unfortunately, Mr Higgins died.

"They were under the snow for about six hours and Dean dug them out of the snow. They had to get down the mountain to safety and that took approximately eight hours. We're not exactly sure what happened but he was alive until they got down the bottom," Ms Mahony told ABC. She said that Mrs Higgins told her about their whole ordeal during the avalanche.

Mrs Higgins had physically recovered from the accident but still emotionally traumatised about her husband's death.

Mr and Mrs Higgins joined a local tourist agency in traversing an off-limits area on Sunday evening. The couple was with eight other tourists, including three Tibetans who also died during the avalanche; three herders who acted as porters, two cooks and a tour guide, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Consular officials in Beijing were already in contact for Mr Higgins family to offer any form of assistance that the family needs.

The local government had been apt in conducting an organised rescue immediately after receiving reports that the tourists were trapped by the avalanche.

Local officials said that Mr Higgins died because of altitude sickness, poor health and old age, made worse by the great physical ordeal he had went through in digging himself and wife out of the avalanche.

State broadcaster CCTV had reported that there were 154 people trapped by the avalanche and were successfully rescued on Tuesday. Eighty-six of these rescued tourists are now staying at the base camp on the mountain's Chinese side.

The media is currently waiting for updates as local authorities and the police were still busy attending to the survivors. Calls to local offices were unanswered and police officials refused to give further information on the current rescue situation.