An Indian climber who was evacuated from Mount Everest after he fell ill a week ago has died, taking the number of deaths this season on the world’s highest peak to five.
Officials on Wednesday said that Banshilal, 47, was brought down without reaching the summit after falling sick and was evacuated from the base camp to a hospital in Kathmandu.
The Department of Tourism said Banshilal died during treatment.
The exact nature of his illness was not clear but hiking officials said he had symptoms of acute mountain sickness when he was evacuated.
One Nepali climber, Binod Babu Bastakoti, 37, died the previous week in the so-called death zone, which has a very low oxygen level while descending after scaling the peak.
While three other climbers a British man and two Sherpas were also missing in the death zone.
According to the officials, mountain climbing is a key tourism activity in Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks including Mount Everest and a source of income and employment.
Nepal has issued permits for Everest, each costing 11,000 U.S. dollars to 421 climbers this season, which ends on Friday.
Officials said about 600 people, a figure which includes guides who don’t need permits, reached the summit this month.
About 7,000 climbers have scaled the peak multiple times since it was first climbed by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953, hiking officials say.