KATHMANDU, May 21 (Reuters) – A Japanese climber, who lost
nine fingertips to frostbite in a previous expedition, died on
Monday during an attempt to climb Mount Everest, an official
said, the second person to die on the world’s highest mountain
during the current climbing season.
Nobukazu Kuriki, 36, was found dead while sleeping in a camp
2 tent at 7,400 metres (24,278 feet) on the 8,850-metre
(29,035-feet) mountain, tourism department official Gyanendra
Shrestha said from base camp.
“Sherpas found his body inside the tent,” Shrestha told
Reuters. Details of the incident are not immediately available
due to poor communication with the higher camp, he said.
Kuriki had made seven unsuccessful attempts to scale
Everest.
In 2012, Kuriki spent two days in a snow hole at 27,000 feet
(8,230 metres) on Everest in temperatures below minus 20
Celsius. That was when he had to have his fingertips amputated.
Macedonian Gjeorgi Petkov, 63, died at the weekend climbing
Everest, hiking officials said without giving details.
Scores of climbers have successfully made it to the top of
Everest this month taking the benefit of good weather, officials
said.
Nepal has allowed more than 340 foreign climbers to ascend
the peak during the current season which started in March and
continues through this month. (Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and
Michael Perry)