A search team has found Kenyan climber Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui dead on Everest. Kirui’s body lay near the ridge between the Hillary Step and the summit. His guide, Nawang Sherpa, is still missing.
Kirui, 40, was trying to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen. Kirui and Nawang last made contact yesterday morning near the summit. But Kirui was not acting normally.
“Nawang last communicated with Base Camp officials from Bishop Rock [a rocky feature close to the summit] that Kirui refused to return and even consume bottled oxygen, but showed abnormal behavior,” Seven Summit Treks told The Himalayan Times.
Kirui is the third confirmed death on Everest this season, after Mongolian climbers Usukhjargal Tsedendamba and Prevsuren Lkhagvajav. It is the fourth death if we count Romanian Gabriel Tabara, who passed away in his tent at Camp 3 while attempting Lhotse. All four dead climbers intended to summit without supplementary O2.
There is also little hope of finding Daniel Paul Peterson of the UK or his guide Pastenji Sherpa. The pair probably fell down the Kangchung Face of the mountain yesterday when the cornice they stepped on broke. Four other climbers were rescued in the incident, thanks to the fixed rope.
