1 Swiss, 1 American die on Everest in year’s 1st fatalities
A Swiss climber and an American have died on Mount Everest in the season’s first casualties on the world’s highest mountain, expedition organizers said Thursday. The Swiss climber, Abdul Waraich, 41, reached the peak before having difficulties, said Chhang Dawa of the expedition organizer, Seven Summit Treks in Nepal. U.S. national Puwei Liu, 55, also died at the highest camp on the mountain at South Col. He had reached the climbing feature named the Hillary Step, located between South Col and the summit, but had to return because of snow blindness and exhaustion.
2021-05-13 06:20:19 GMT2021-05-13 14:20:19(Beijing Time) Sina English
AFP
In this photograph taken on May 2, an helicopter flies over Khumbu glacier in the Mount Everest region of Solukhumbu district, some 140km northeast of Nepal s capital Kathmandu.
Two climbers, from the United States and Switzerland, have died on Mount Everest, the first fatalities of this year s season, expedition organizers in Nepal said on Thursday.
On average around five climbers die every year on the world s highest peak.
But in recent seasons, Everest has seen a surge in the number of climbers, leading to overcrowding that has been blamed for multiple deaths.
A Swiss climber and an American have died on Mount Everest in the first fatalities of the season on the world’s highest mountain, expedition organisers said today.The Swiss climber Abdul Waraich, 41
Despite the pandemic, crowds are still lining up to summit Everest.
Photo: AFP
Abdul Waraich, 41, of Switzerland and American Puwei Liu, 55, died of exhaustion while descending the slopes of the 8,848m mountain on Wednesday local time, said Thaneshwar Guragai, a manager of the Seven Summit Treks company that provided support to the climbers. Additional sherpas were sent with supplies and oxygen but unfortunately they could not save them, he told Reuters.
Waraich, who was on his way down after reaching the summit, died near the south summit, according to Chhang Dawa Sherpa, another official of the company.
Liu could not reach the summit of Everest and died on descent near a 7,900m camp at the South Col after suffering snow blindness and exhaustion, Sherpa said in his Instagram post.