Indian climber dies after Everest bid, eighth death this season
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Eight climbers have died as Nepal’s mountaineering season comes to an end, a low toll compared with 18 deaths in 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KATHMANDU – An Indian climber rescued from Mount Everest has died in hospital, a Nepali tourism official said on May 28, taking the number of fatalities this season on the world’s highest mountain to eight.
Mr Banshi Lal, 46, was plucked from the mountain last week and taken to a hospital in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.
“He died at the hospital yesterday,” Mr Rakesh Gurung of the tourism department told AFP.
Three people – a British climber and two Nepali guides – among the eight are listed as missing but presumed dead.
The latest fatality comes as the Everest mountaineering season nears its end, with the death toll relatively low compared with other years.
2023 was the deadliest season on the mountain, with 18 fatalities.
Three more died climbing other Nepali peaks, including a Romanian aiming for Lhotse, which neighbours Everest, while a French and a Nepali climber died on Makalu, the world’s fifth-highest mountain.
Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds typically calm.
All the Everest deaths
Multiple records have also been broken in 2024, including by Nepali climber Phunjo Lamam, who reached Everest’s summit in 14 hours and 31 minutes, the world’s fastest ascent of the mountain by a woman.
Climbers usually take days to reach the top of the 8,849m mountain, spending nights at its different camps to rest and acclimatise.
And 54-year-old Kami Rita Sherpa, a Nepali climber known as “Everest Man”, reached the peak of the world’s highest mountain for a record 30th time
Nepal has issued more than 900 permits for its mountains in 2024, including 419 for Everest, earning more than US$5 million (S$6.7 million) in royalties.
More than 600 climbers and their guides have already reached the summit of Everest, after a rope-fixing team reached the peak in April.
China also reopened the Tibetan route to foreigners in 2024 for the first time since closing it in 2020 because of the pandemic. AFP
