Mount Everest death toll rises to three amid overcrowding fears

Three climbers have died and two are missing on Everest, underlining the risks involved as mountaineers return to the world’s highest peak after two seasons marked by disasters. The Nepal Mountaineering Association said overcrowding and bottlenecks high on the mountain may have contributed to the fatalities.

Ang Tshering, of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, said on Monday: “This was a man-made disaster that may have been minimised with better management of the teams. The last two disasters on Everest were caused by nature, but not this one.”

An Indian national died while being guided down the mountain, a few days after a Dutch man and an Australian woman died. Two other Indian climbers are missing. More than 350 climbers have reached the top of Everest in May from the Nepalese side of the mountain, while several people have also climbed it from Tibet. May is the peak period for attempts on Everest, with hundreds of climbers trying to scale the mountain during the few periods of good weather. In recent years, however, the number of climbers has led to queues on the fixed ropes up the mountain, particularly in the upper reaches above the South Col campsite.