Kenyan, Nepali climber found dead on Mount Everest, Sherpa guide still missing

A Kenyan and Nepali climber, who had been missing for days, have been found dead near the Everest Summit, officials at the Everest Base Camp confirmed.

According to the officials, Nepali climber Binod Babu Bastakoti died at Camp IV while descending, and 40 years old Kenyan climber, Cheruiyot Kirui was found by rescuers from the Seven Summit Treks, a few meters below the summit of Mount Everest.

The status of Nawang Sherpa, who was accompanying Kenyan climber Kirui in the death zone, is yet to be ascertained.

The Kenyan national was attempting to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen but had gone off the radio from Bishop Rock.

“Nawang had last communicated with the base camp officials from Bishop Rock that Kirui refused to return and even consume bottled oxygen but showed abnormal behaviour,” one of the officials from the search team said.

The Nepali climber died above Camp IV on Wednesday as he suffered from altitude sickness at around 8,300 metres, just above Camp IV, after he suffered from illness while descending from the summit point, expedition organizing company Narbin Magar of Booking Own Pvt. Ltd confirmed.

Earlier on Tuesday, two climbers fell off near the Hillary step on Mount Everest.

According to the officials, Daniel Paul Peterson, from the UK and Pas Tenji Sherpa, from Makalu fell down when a section of the route in the Hillary section below the summit point collapsed.

Similarly, Gabriel Tabara of Romania was found dead inside his tent at Camp III on Tuesday.

Mongolian climbers – Usukhjargal Tsedendamba and Prevsuren Lkhagvajav also died above 8,500m while descending from the summit point on May 13.

Cheruiyot Kirui had scaled Mt. Manaslu (8,163m) without supplemental oxygen, achieving this feat in September 2023 as the first African to summit a peak above 8,000 metres without supplemental oxygen. His other notable climbs include several speed ascents of Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,895m), where he completed the round trip in just 15 hours. Kirui has also summited Mt. Kenya (5,199m) over 20 times, setting course records on its three main routes.