Tourism officials announced on Thursday that a Kenyan and a Nepali mountaineer have passed away in close proximity to the summit of Mount Everest, bringing the total number of fatalities on the world’s highest mountain to at least four this season. Three mountaineers, including the guide of the Kenyan climber, are currently missing.
A search team was deployed on the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) high mountain after Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui, 40, and his Nepali guide Nawang Sherpa, 44, went out of contact Wednesday morning.
Khim Lal Gautam, the director of the tourism department’s field office at the base camp, informed AFP that the Kenyan climber was discovered deceased between the summit and the Hillary Step. However, his guide remains unaccounted for.
Kirui, a 40-year-old accountant at Kenya Commercial Bank, had been closely monitored in Kenya, and fellow climber James Muhia had provided frequent updates about the attempt on the internet.
“It is a day of sorrow,” Muhia remarked on Thursday on X. “Our brother has become one with the mountain.” It will be a challenging period. “Go well, my sibling.”
Korir Sing’oei, the secretary of the Kenyan foreign ministry, stated that he had conferred with Kirui prior to his visit to Nepal and characterized him as audacious and fearless.
“Rea”I am deeply disheartened by this news,” Sing’oei expressed on social media. “I have been following his exploits until his untimely demise.” He is an audacious and fearless individual who embodies the unyielding determination of a significant number of Kenyans. ill mourn him.
According to a statement from the tourism department, Binod Babu Bastakoti, a 37-year-old Nepali climber, passed away at an elevation of approximately 8,200 meters (26,902 feet) on Wednesday.
A 40-year-old British climber and his Nepali guide, who went missing on Tuesday morning after a snow mass disintegrated as they descended from Everest’s peak, are still being sought by search parties.
On Monday, a Romanian climber passed away in his tent while attempting to ascend Lhotse, the fourth-highest mountain in the globe.
Everest and Lhotse traverse the same path until they diverge at approximately 7,200 meters.
This month, two Mongolian adventurers disappeared after reaching the summit of Everest and were subsequently discovered deceased.
Makalu, the world’s fifth-highest peak, has claimed the lives of two additional climbers this season: one Nepali and one French.
The most lethal season on Everest was the previous year.
This year, Nepal has issued over 900 permits for its summits, with 419 permits issued for Everest. The country has earned over $5 million in royalties.
After a rope-fixing team reached the summit last month, over 500 climbers and their guides have already reached the summit of Everest.
This year, China reopened the Tibetan route to foreigners for the first time since it was closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hundreds of adventurers flock to Nepal each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds are generally calm, to witness eight of the world’s ten highest summits.
Last year, over 600 climbers reached the summit of Everest; however, it was also the most lethal season on the mountain, with 18 fatalities.
On the same day that Nepali climber Phunjo Lama broke the world record for the quickest female ascent of Everest by reaching the summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, the bleak news was announced on Thursday. Climbers typically spend days ascending the 29,032-foot mountain, spending evenings in its various camps to recuperate and acclimate.
Kami Rita, a renowned Sherpa mountain guide from Nepal, reached the summit of Everest for the 30th time just one day prior to Lama’s record-breaking ascent.
