Three climbers have died on Mount Everest and another is missing following a tragic weekend on the world’s highest mountain.
Officials said an American climber, a Slovakian and an Australian, all in their 50s, died on the mountain in separate incidents.
An Indian climber who fell sick on his way down after a successful ascent is also reportedly missing.
Roland Yearwood, 50, from Georgiana, Alabama, died on Sunday close to the Balcony, a small platform above the 8,000-metre mark known as the mountain's "death zone".
A Slovak climber Vladimir Strba, 50, also died on Everest on Sunday, Tourism Ministry official Gyanendra Shrestha said. His body was brought to the South Col camp.
Australian climber Francesco Enrico Marchetti, 54, from Queensland, died on the Chinese side of Everest, according to the Himalayan Times newspaper.
Indian climber Ravi Kumar fell sick on his way down from the summit on Saturday and did not make it to the nearest camp, though his accompanying Nepalese Sherpa guide did reach camp.
The guide was sick but had managed to drag himself to the camp at South Col, located at 26,247ft, where he received oxygen.
Kumar and his guide reached the 29,035ft-high summit about 1.30pm local time on Saturday, which is considered late, and not many climbers were around when they were returning back.
Three Sherpa rescuers were flown by helicopter to Camp 2, from where they were climbing up the mountain to help search for the missing climber.
The number of climbers who have died on Everest during the current spring climbing season, which began in March and runs through this month, has now reached five with one missing.
More climbers are also expected to attempt to reach the peak on Monday.
The Nepalese Tourism Department issued a record 371 permits this year to people to scale the mountain. The increased number of climbers this year is likely because many people were unable to climb in 2014 and 2015, when deadly avalanches disrupted the climbing seasons.
Read More
Climbers who had permits for the 2014 season were allowed to receive a free replacement permit until 2019, while climbers with 2015 permits were given only until this year.
