Two Mongolian climbers who went missing near the summit of Mount Everest are feared dead, officials said, citing at least two climbers who successfully summited the peak on Wednesday.
Michal Ryszard Wensierski and Purba Sherpa from Makalu Adventure, who reached the summit at 7.25 am, informed officials that they did not encounter the missing climbers but admitted seeing two bodies just below the south summit at an altitude of 8,750 meters. It remains unclear whether these bodies belong to the missing climbers or others.
“We have reports that climbers from Makalu Adventure informed the base camp manager of seeing two bodies, but we are yet to independently confirm that,” said Rakesh Gurung, chief of mountaineering section at Department of Tourism.
Mohan Lamsal of Makalu Adventures confirmed that two members of his expedition successfully summited the peak amid harsh weather conditions. However, he refrained from commenting on them seeing the unidentified bodies. “Base camp manager informed me of Michal and Phurba summit yesterday. I have no idea if they saw dead bodies on their way down from the summit,” he told Everest Chronicle.
The duo braved the harsh weather condition to summit the world’s highest peak while other teams are waiting for a favorable weather below Camp IV. They are the lone expedition group to make it to the summit on Wednesday. There has not been any summit from Monday.
It has been more than 108 hours since the expedition organizer heard from Usukhjargal Tsedendamba, 53, and Purevsuren Lkhagvajav, 31, who were part of a nine-member Mongolian expedition organized by 8K Expedition.
The search and rescue team has not been able to move above Camp IV due to the jet stream.
Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expedition said that the search and rescue team is planning to go to the said site tonight.
According to officials of the Department of Tourism (DoT), on May 10, the pair set out from base camp and reached Camp II. They spent the night of May 11 at Camp III.
On May 12, they advanced to Camp IV and commenced their summit attempt later that day, beginning at 7 pm. They were reportedly en route to the summit when last sighted by a group of climbers from TAG Nepal on Monday morning.
The team had also taken a photo of the two climbers from afar. The two had reportedly left the radio set meant for communication before the summit push.
The climbers had only paid for the base camp service and bottled oxygen but were climbing on their own without Sherpa assistance, according to 8K Expedition.
