ISLAMABAD – Four of the climbers who embarked on to climb world’s highest peak Mount Everest were found dead inside a tent on Everest, an expedition organizer said Wednesday.
The climbers were found dead at camp four — at 7,950 metres (26,085 feet) — on Tuesday by a rescue team who were there to retrieve the dead body of a Slovak climber who lost his life on Sunday.
“Our rescuers found bodies of four climbers in a tent at camp four yesterday. We don’t have the details of who they are or how they died yet,” said Mingma Sherpa, head of Seven Summits Trek, a Kathmandu-based agency that runs expeditions and rescue operations on the mountain.
According to reports of local media, two of the dead were foreign climbers while two were Sherpa guides.
The Nepal government liaison officer stationed at the base camp could not immediately be reached for confirmation. The four dead included American doctor Roland Yearwood and Slovak climber Vladimir Strba.
Both died above the 8,000 metre mark — an area known as the mountain’s “death zone” where oxygen levels plummet to dangerously low levels, heightening the risk of altitude sickness.
The body of Indian 27-years-old climber Ravi Kumar was spotted on Monday two days after he reached the summit and then lost contact. A rescue operation is currently under way to retrieve his body.
Another Australian climber died on the Tibet side of the mountain on Sunday.
This season proved to a deadly one as legendary Swiss climber Ueli Steck and 85-year-old Min Bahadur Sherchan, also died in their bid to catch a glimpse of Everest. The tragic incident took the death toll on the world’s highest peak this spring season to 10.
Last year Everest claimed the lives of five climbers.
More than 382 climbers have successfully reached the summit from the south side so far this season, with at least 120 doing so from the Tibet side. Overall 640 people reached the summit.
