A climber from Maharashtra died while ascending the world's third-highest peak Mt Kanchenjunga in Nepal, expedition organisers said on Friday, 6 May.
The man was identified as Narayan Iyer and he reportedly died on Thursday at an altitude of 8,200 metre, near the peak of Kanchenjunga. Iyer is the third climber to die in Nepal this year during the Himalayan spring climbing season, reported news agency AFP.
Pasang Sherpa, chairman at Pioneer Adventure said, the incident occurred when the 52-year-old climber refused to descend even after he fell ill while ending the climb, reported IANS.
"Iyer's climbing guide had repeatedly asked him to descend but he refused to adhere to his call," Sherpa claimed.
'He Was Exhausted, He Couldn’t Continue and Collapsed'
Nivesh Karki of the expedition company told news agency AFP that Iyer was slower than other climbers and that there were two guides to assist him. "He was exhausted, he couldn't continue and collapsed," he said.
Karki added that Iyer's family had been informed of his death. The company is reportedly working to recover his body.
As many as 68 permits have been issued to foreign climbers by Nepal for the expedition this season. Several among them also reached the summit on Thursday after climbing 8,586 metres.
Nepal, which is home to eight of the world's highest mountains also saw deaths of two other climbers recently. While a Greek climber passed away last month at the 8,167-metre Dhaulagiri after falling sick, a climber from Nepal died a few days later on Mount Everest while he was ascending the peak with equipment.
Every year, hundreds of adventure enthusiasts throng Nepal during the spring climbing season to scale the peaks. The country re-opened mountaineering last year after it was shut for almost a year due to COVID-19 in 2020.
(With inputs from AFP, IANS, The Himalayan Times.)
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