An Indian climber and another of the Philippines became the first mountaineers to die on Mount Everest in the current climbing season from March to May of the highest peak in the world, hiking officials said on Friday.
Subrata Ghosh, 45, from India, died Thursday below the passage of Hillary while returning after reaching the peak of 8,849 meters (29,032 feet).
“He refused to descend from under the passage of Hillary,” Bhandari Bhandari of Nepal’s Snowy Horizon Treks and Expedition Organizing Company said.
There were no other details available.
Hillary’s passage is located in the ‘Death Zone’, an area of between 8,000 meters (26,250 feet) high and the summit where the level of natural oxygen is inappropriate for survival.
“Efforts are being made to take their body to the base camp. The cause of his death will be known only after the post mortem,” Bhandari said.
Philipp II Santiago, 45, of the Philippines, died late on Wednesday at the South Col while he was on his way, said Himal Gautam, an official of the Tourism Department.
Santiago was tired when he arrived at the Fourth High Camp and died as he rested in his store, Gautam added.
Santiago and Ghose were members of an international expedition organized by Bhandari.
Nepal has issued 459 permits to climb Everest during the current season that ends in May. Almost 100 climbers and their guides have already reached the summit this week.
The height of the mountain, trekking and tourism are a source of income and employment for Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world.
According to the Himalayan database, at least 345 people have died at Everest in more than 100 years since it was known that the top expeditions began, according to the Himalayas database and hiking officials.
