Three climbers die on Mt. Everest, two more missing

Mount EverestKathmandu, Nepal – Three climbers who were among scores who scaled Mount Everest over the weekend died on their descent and two more are missing, a Nepalese official said Monday.

The three are believed to be a South Korean, a German and a Nepali-born Canadian woman.


Conditions were favourable on Friday and Saturday morning but a wind storm swept the mountain later on Saturday, Mountaineering Department official Gyanendra Shresth told AP.


Two more climbers are currently missing, he added.


There are reports at the mountain’s base camp that the death toll may rise further.


“There was a traffic jam on the mountain on Saturday. Climbers were still heading to the summit as late as 14:30 [08:45 GMT] which is quite dangerous,” Mr Shresta said.


Officials named the Canadian woman as Shriya Shah, and the German as Eberhard Schaaf.


The South Korean climber, Song Won-bin, died at The Balcony, an area near the top of the 8,848m (29,029ft) peak, Ang Tshering Sherpa of the Kathmandu-based Asian Trekking adventure agency told Agence France Presse.


The two currently missing on the mountain are believed to be a Chinese national and his Nepali guide.


Over 300 climbers belonging to 33 different teams have received official permits to climb the mountain from the Nepali side this season.


That figure does not include local Nepalis who are assisting the climbers, working as porters or helpers.


Two Nepalis working as guides died on Everest last month.


A study published in the British Medical Journal in 2006 stated that, on average, there had been one death for every 10 successful attempts to scale Mt Everest.


The mountain’s worst-ever climbing season was in 1996, when 15 climbers died, eight of them in one day.


 

Source: Agencies / www.timesofearth.com