Missing Indian climber found dead on Everest

The body of a 27-year-old Indian climber, who has been missing since Saturday on Everest, has been found after 36 hours of intense search.

Ravi Kumar is the fifth person to die on Mt. Everest this season. With Kumar's death, 45 people have lost their lives on the world's highest peak in the last four years.

According to Chowang Sherpa, Managing Director of Arun Treks and Expedition, the handling agency of Kumar's expedition, a team of high-altitude guides spotted the body on Monday morning "resting below 200-metre-deep crevasse of 'balcony' (8,400 metres) near the summit".

"But it is not possible to retrieve the body immediately," said Chowang.

Climbers from the US and Slovakia also died on the Nepali side of the mountain on Sunday.

According to Chowang, Kumar with his Sherpa guide reached the summit at 1.28 p.m. on Saturday.

He said the climber had forced the guide to push for summit even though it was not an appropriate time for climbing.

Lack of oxygen coupled with extreme temperatures and weather in the afternoon creates death risk on the mountain.

Chowang said the climber had collapsed at 8 p.m. on Saturday due to low level of energy and oxygen while descending from the summit.

The Sherpa guide left the climber at the balcony with supplementary oxygen after he failed to walk.

The guide then descended to Camp IV to send a rescue team as he suffered multiple injuries due to frostbite and snow blindness, he said.

According to Chowang, when three high-altitude guides reached the place, they didn't find Kumar there. "The descended climbers did not see him as well."

He said Kumar might have slipped from the location where he was taking rest. "We will be sending four rescue guides on Monday as well, but his chances of survival are very thin on such extreme climate."

Given the risks involved in spending so much time at high altitudes, many climbing teams decide not to bring down the dead bodies.

Nearly 300 people have died on the Mt Everest since the first ascent to the peak was made in 1953.

It is estimated that more than 200 dead bodies are still lying on the mountain.

--IANS

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