A TRAGIC incident on Mount Everest has claimed the life of Kenyan climber Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui, 40, while his Nepali guide, Nawang Sherpa, 44, remains missing. This development brings the total number of fatalities on the world’s highest peak this season to at least three, according to a tourism official.
Khim Lal Gautam, chief of the tourism department’s field office at the base camp, reported to AFP news agency, ‘The team found the Kenyan climber dead between the summit and the Hillary Step, but his guide is still missing.’
Kirui and Sherpa lost contact on Wednesday morning, prompting the deployment of a search team to the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) high mountain. Efforts continue to locate Sherpa, alongside the search for a 40-year-old British climber and a 21-year-old Nepali guide who have been missing since an ice fall collapsed on Tuesday morning during their descent from Everest’s peak.
Earlier this week, a Romanian climber died in his tent during an attempt to scale Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest mountain. Everest and Lhotse share the same route until diverging at approximately 7,200 meters.
This month has seen other tragic incidents, including the disappearance and subsequent deaths of two Mongolian climbers who reached Everest’s summit. Additionally, two climbers, one French and one Nepali, have died on Makalu, the world’s fifth-highest peak.
Nepal has issued over 900 permits for its mountains this year, including 419 for Everest, generating more than $5 million in royalties. More than 500 climbers and their guides have already summited Everest this season, following a rope-fixing team’s successful ascent last month.
For the first time since 2020, China reopened the Tibetan route to foreigners, offering an alternative path to Everest’s summit. Nepal, home to eight of the world’s ten highest peaks, attracts hundreds of adventurers each spring when conditions are most favourable.
Last year, Everest saw more than 600 successful summits but also endured its deadliest season with 18 fatalities. This year’s climbing season continues to highlight both the allure and the peril of one of the most challenging feats in mountaineering.
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