Mount Everest: Body of second missing mountaineer found

Both bodies were found on Friday, but the identity of one of the two victims had yet to be finally clarified, it was said on Sunday. 53-year-old Usukhjargal Tsedendamba and 31-year-old Purevsuren Lkhagvajav last reported a week ago from Camp 4, which is located less than a kilometer below the world’s highest peak.

• Read more: First dead of peak season found on Mount Everest

Tsedendamba’s body was discovered on Friday morning at an altitude of 8,600 meters. Bad weather had previously hampered the search for several days. The second body was also found on Friday, but its identity could not be immediately clarified, Pemba Sherpa from the provider 8k Expeditions, which organized the climb for the duo, told the AFP news agency. It has now been confirmed that it is the missing mountaineer. “We’re trying to bring the bodies down,” Sherpa said.

Sherpa said the two men were traveling without a guide and that their radio was found in their tent. Nepal’s tourism authority said on Tuesday that other climbers saw the two men on Monday morning as they were on their way to the summit.

First fatality of the season

Hundreds of climbers have already flocked to Nepal this spring, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains. Nepal has issued more than 900 permits for its mountains this year, including 419 for Everest.

Around 80 climbers have already reached the 8,849 meter high summit of Everest this year after a rope team attached fixed ropes there last month. These are the first deaths of this year’s Mount Everest season.

Two climbers have already died this year on Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world. The 60-year-old Frenchman Johnny Saliba died a week ago during his summit attempt at an altitude of 8,120 meters. A 53-year-old Nepalese mountain guide died while descending the same peak last week.