Everest claims fourth climber this week during busy ascent season
May 24 (UPI) -- A Kenyan mountain climber who had been missing near the summit of Mount Everest was found dead, fellow climbers reported Thursday.
Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui, 44, and his Nepali guide Nawang Sherpa, also 44, disappeared on Wednesday during Kirui's attempt to become the first African to summit Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen.
Sherpa told people at base camp that Kirui had been showing signs of altitude sickness and other "abnormal behavior" and "refused to return and even consume bottled oxygen," the BBC reported.
Kirui, a banker with one of Kenya's biggest lenders, said on social media posts and in a message to the BBC that he had undergone extensive physical preparations for the Everest climb.
"The major/specific preparation was climbing Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world in 2023 September," he wrote in an email to the BBC.
"However, I've been climbing locally in Kenya, many stair climbs, gym workouts and running as specific preparation. Also for 10 years I've climbed, ran marathons and ultra marathons which adds to the general preparations".
Kirui said he had planned to descend on Wednesday and had expressed confidence that he could achieve the summit of the world's tallest peak and descend it without bottled oxygen. Doing so is very uncommon among climbers, even experienced ones, but Kiriu said Sherpa would have supplemental oxygen and emergency supplies on hand in case he needed them. Kiriu was trying to be the first African to summit Everest without aid of additional oxygen.
Sherpa's body still has not been located.
While it has become commercialized and littered in recent years, Everest, the world's tallest peak at 29,040 feet, remains among the most sought after by both high-profile mountaineers with experience and some climbers with little to no idea about the sport and who rely on professional guides to help them reach the summit using courses fixed with ropes, but which require crossing huge crevasses on metal ladders strung together to create a makeshift bridge.
Nepalese newspaper the Himalayan Times quoted Mr Sherpa informing the base camp that Kirui had shown "abnormal behavior" and "refused to return and even consume bottled oxygen".
Contact with the duo was lost shortly after the message, base camp officials told the newspaper.
Kirui's close friend and fellow climber, Kipkemoi Limo, told the BBC that he died from a fall.
Kirui's family and friends are enquiring whether he gave consent to be buried on Everest, or whether he would have wanted his body to be returned to Kenya, which will cost $190,000.
Fellow Everest climbers are in dismay and shock about the death, although it is not the first of the season and may not be the last. May is the busiest month of the year for attempted ascents.
"Our brother now rests on the mountain. It's been a long night," fellow Kenyan mountaineer James Muhia, who had been sharing regular updates about Kirui's attempt, said on X.
Kirui's death was the fourth reported on Everest this week. A Romanian climber and a British climber and his Nepalese guide were also found dead on Tuesday, the Himalayan Times reported.
