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Everest rescuers find body of missing climber

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KATHMANDU: Rescuers on Everest found the body of a missing Indian climber yesterday, taking the toll from a deadly weekend on the world's highest peak to four.

Three other climbers died on Everest over the weekend, one of the deadliest episodes since an avalanche swept through base camp two years ago, killing 18.

All the fatalities appear to be related to altitude sickness.

Indian climber Ravi Kumar, 27, reached the summit on Saturday but lost contact shortly after. His Nepali guide managed to reach Camp 4, just below 8,000 metres, but sustained severe frostbite. "A search and rescue team have seen his body," Thupden Sherpa of Arun Treks and Expeditions told AFP.

He said that Mr Kumar's body was spotted about 200 metres from the main route and the team was assessing the feasibility of retrieving it.

An American doctor Roland Yearwood and Slovak climber Vladimir Strba both perished on Sunday above the 8,000 metre mark - an area known as the mountain's "death zone" where the thin air heightens the risk of altitude sickness.

An Australian climber died on the Tibet side of the mountain, local media reported, quoting the Tibet Mountaineering Association.

The 54-year-old from Queensland was reportedly hit by altitude sickness after reaching 7,500 metres and died as he was trying to descend. His name has not yet been officially released. 
- AFP

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