2 climbers die on Mount Everest; expedition organizers still deciding if and when bodies will be retrieved

An Indian and a Filipino climber have died while climbing Mount Everest, as hundreds of climbers are attempting to scale the world’s highest peak, expedition organizers said Friday.

The Indian climber, identified as Subrata Ghosh, died on Thursday just below the 29,032-foot summit of the peak while he was returning from the top.

The other climber, identified as Philipp Santiago, 45, from the Philippines, died Wednesday while he was headed to the summit. He had reached Camp 4, which is the highest camp on the mountain, and was preparing for the final bid to reach the summit.

Bodha Raj Bhandari of the Nepal-based Snowy Horizon Trek and Expedition, which equipped and organized the expedition, said the bodies were still on the mountain and it was yet to be decided if and when they would be brought down.

Retrieving bodies is both expensive and difficult as it takes many people to drag them down the icy slopes of the mountain. Many casualties are inside the “death zone,” where thin air and low oxygen levels raise the risk of altitude sickness.

The spring climbing season began in March and ends at the end of May.

May is the best month to climb the peak and climbers get only a few opportunities when the weather conditions improve, allowing just enough time for them to try to scale the peak.

Everest was first climbed in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. More than 300 people have died on Everest since then.

Several climbers died in the region recently. Earlier this week, a French woman died trying to scale the world’s third-highest mountain, Kanchenjunga, while British media reported a U.K. climber on the same peak was rescued.

Last week, American climber Alexander Pancoe died while attempting Mount Makalu, the fifth-highest mountain in the world. Pancoe, an accomplished climber and graduate of Northwestern University, had survived a brain tumor when he was younger, CBS Chicago reported.

An Austrian climber died while descending Nepal’s 6,812-meter Ama Dablam last month. 

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of climbers every year during the spring and autumn climbing seasons. It has already issued over 1,000 permits for its mountains this season.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.