The Fiji Times » Exhaustion kills two Everest climbers, an American and a Swiss fijitimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fijitimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A Swiss and an American climber have died on Mount Everest, hiking company officials said on Thursday, the first fatalities on the world’s highest peak this season.
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.