Nepal is home to eight of the ten highest peaks in the world. (File)
Kathmandu:
A Kenyan and a Nepalese climber have died near the summit of Everest, tourism officials said Thursday, bringing the number of deaths on the world’s highest mountain this season to at least four.
Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui, 40, and his Nepalese guide Nawang Sherpa, 44, left the contact on Wednesday morning and a search team was deployed to the 8,849-metre mountain.
“The team found the Kenyan climber dead between the summit and the Hillary Step, but his guide is still missing,” Khim Lal Gautam, head of the tourism department’s field office at the base camp, told AFP.
Another Nepalese climber, Binod Babu Bastakoti, 37, died on Wednesday at about 8,200 meters (26,902 feet), a tourism department statement said.
Search parties are also still looking for a 40-year-old British climber and his Nepalese guide who went missing on Tuesday morning after a snowpack collapsed as they descended from the summit of Everest.
A Romanian climber died in his tent on Monday while attempting to climb Lhotse, the world’s fourth highest mountain.
Everest and Lhotse share the same route until they diverge at about 7,200 meters.
Two Mongolian climbers went missing this month after reaching the summit of Everest and were later found dead.
Two more climbers, a Frenchman and a Nepalese, have died this season on Makalu, the world’s fifth highest mountain.
Nepal has issued more than 900 permits for its mountains this year, including 419 for Everest, earning more than $5 million in royalties.
More than 500 climbers and their guides have already reached the summit of Everest after a rope repair team reached the summit last month.
China also reopened the Tibetan route to foreigners this year for the first time since it was closed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Home to eight of the world’s ten highest peaks, Nepal welcomes hundreds of adventurers every spring, when temperatures are warm and winds are generally calm.
More than 600 climbers reached the summit of Everest last year, but it was also the deadliest season on the mountain, with 18 fatalities.
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