Two other climbers have died on Everest, expedition organizers said Thursday, bringing the death toll on the world’s highest peak this spring to seven.
A 58-year-old Indian woman, who said she had a pacemaker before her expedition, and a Nepalese member of a team clearing rubbish on the mountain are the latest fatalities.
Suzanne Leopoldina Jesus died in a hospital in the town of Lukla, Nepal, after being evacuated from the base camp due to illness.
“We took the Indian climber to Lukla from base camp in a helicopter on Wednesday because she was sick and unable to climb,” Da Dendi Sherpa, director general of Glacier Himalaya Treks and Expedition, told AFP.
Jesus raised money for his ascent with the slogan “Expedition to Everest and return with a pacemaker, aged 58”.
Elementary school teacher Suzanne Leopoldina Jesus planned to be the first person with a pacemaker to climb Everest and the oldest Indian woman to climb the world’s tallest mountain, the Himalayan Times reported.
“We tried to send her to Kathmandu. But due to the bad weather conditions, the helicopter couldn’t fly to Kathmandu. She was admitted to a local hospital in Lukla, where she died this morning,” Sherpa said.
The other fatality, a Nepalese man who belonged to a garbage disposal crew, died on Tuesday while descending Everest. It was part of an annual mountain clearance campaign by the Nepalese army.
“Work is underway to return his body,” Pasang Sherpa of expedition company Peak Promotion told AFP.
Nepal has issued 478 Everest permits to foreign climbers this season, which runs until early June.
Since most require a guide, a total of over 900 people will attempt to reach the top.
On Wednesday, a Moldovan climber died in Camp Four on his way to the summit. Last month, three Nepalese climbers were killed when a glacial ice pack collapsed and dragged them into a canyon as they crossed the treacherous Khumbu Icefall on a resupply mission.
A 69-year-old American mountaineer also died this month during an acclimatization rotation at an altitude of about 6,400 meters.
On average, about five climbers die on Everest each spring climbing season. But in 2019, 11 people died, four of them from overcrowding on the mountain.
Source: DN
