KATHMANDU, May 19, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Rescuers found the body of a second
Mongolian climber who went missing on Mount Everest, expedition organisers
said Sunday, confirming the second fatality on the world's highest peak this
mountaineering season.

Usukhjargal Tsedendamba, 53, and Purevsuren Lkhagvajav, 31, were last in
contact Sunday evening from Camp 4, which is situated less than a kilometre
(0.6 miles) below the summit.

Tsedendamba's body was found around an altitude of 8,600 metres (28,215 feet)
on Friday morning after days of search and rescue operations that had been
hampered by bad weather.

"The second body was also found on Friday, but needed verification. We
confirmed it was him yesterday," Pemba Sherpa of 8k Expeditions, which
organised the duo's climbing permits and base camp stay, told AFP.

"We are trying to bring the bodies down."

Four guides had been sent for their search and rescue.

Lkhagvajav's body was found near an area called the balcony, a small platform
at an elevation of around 8,400 metres (27,560 feet).

Sherpa said that two men were climbing without guides and that their walkie-
talkie had been found in their tent.

Nepal's tourism department said in a statement on Tuesday that another team
had spotted the pair "heading towards Everest's summit" on Monday morning.

Hundreds of climbers have flocked to Nepal -- home to eight of the world's 14
highest peaks -- for summits in the spring climbing season when temperatures
are warmer and winds are typically calm.

Nepal has issued more than 900 permits for its mountains this year, including
419 for Everest, earning more than $5 million in royalties.

Around 80 climbers have already reached the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) summit
of Everest after a rope-fixing team reached the peak last month.

Two climbers have died on nearby Makalu, the world's fifth-highest peak, this
year.

French climber Johnny Saliba, 60, died at an altitude of 8,120 metres (26,640
feet) during his summit push last week.

A 53-year-old Nepali guide died on the same peak last week while descending
from the summit.