Recent reports from the Everest Base Camp confirmed the deaths of two climbers near the Mount Everest Summit. The climbers were identified as one Nepali climber Binod Babu Bastakoti and a Kenyan climber Cheruiyot Kirui near the summit. Both climbers had reportedly gone missing for several days. Additionally, Nawang Sherpa, a guide accompanying Kirui still remains missing, intensifying the already somber atmosphere.
Reports indicated that Bastakoti died at Camp IV during his descent, while Kirui’s body was discovered a few meters below the summit by rescuers from Seven Summit Treks. According to Narbin Magar, an expedition organizer from Booking Own Pvt. Ltd, Bastakoti succumbed to altitude sickness above Camp IV on Wednesday while descending from the summit point, approximately at 8,300 meters.
The circumstances surrounding Kirui’s demise are particularly distressing. The Kenyan climber, attempting Everest without supplemental oxygen, lost contact with the base camp officials from Bishop Rock. “Nawang had last communicated with the base camp officials from Bishop Rock that Kirui refused to return and even consumed bottled oxygen but showed abnormal behavior,” revealed a member of the search team.
Kirui’s climbing feats added to the tragedy, underscoring the loss to the mountaineering community. He notably became the first African to summit a peak above 8,000 meters without supplemental oxygen when he conquered Mt. Manaslu (8,163m) in September 2023. Renowned for his speed ascents, Kirui completed the round trip on Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,895m) in just 15 hours and summited Mt. Kenya (5,199m) over 20 times, setting course records on its three main routes.
In a separate development, Pakistani mountaineer Sirbaz Khan recently achieved a remarkable feat by climbing Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen. Khan’s accomplishment marked him as only the second Pakistani to scale the world’s highest peak without supplemental oxygen, adding a glimmer of positivity amidst the somber news from Everest.
