2 Indian climbers die while descending Mt. Everest

Two Indian climbers have died while descending toward Everest base camp after successfully standing atop Mount Everest, said a government official.

Khim Lal Gautam, coordinator of the Everest Base Camp field office established by the Department of Tourism, said two climbers from Pioneer Adventures, who had permits for the Everest ascent, collapsed on their way back to base.

"Two Indian climbers died; one at camp II and another one at Hillary Step," he said from the Everest Base camp.

The deceased have been identified as Arun Kumar Tiwari and Sandip Are, said Nivesh Karki, managing director of Pioneer Adventures.

Arun Tiwari was descending to the lower camps after reaching the Everest summit on Wednesday at around 5:15 pm, but he collapsed at the Hillary during the descent to the lower camp.

Sudip Are had reached a lower camp after accomplishing his lifelong dream of reaching the world's highest point. "He was getting weaker and died at camp II while we were rescuing Sudip," said Karki.

Are's body was brought to base camp. Rescuers are attempting to recover the body of another climber. Recovering a body from Hillary Step (8,790 meters) remains a herculean task for rescuers.

With this, five people have died on Everest this expedition season, base camp officials said. Three mountain guides died at the mountain's base before ropes were fixed to the summit.

In 2025, five climbers died on Everest-three in the upper reaches of the mountain and two in the lower areas. Eight deaths were reported during the spring expedition season of 2024.

The government issued a record 494 climbing permits for Everest hopefuls this season. Due to a massive serac in the icefall, rope-fixing was delayed by a week. This forced hundreds of climbers to attempt the summit within a short climbing window causing, a severe 'traffic jam' in the death zone.

On May 20, a record 274 climbers reached the summit of Everest in a single day.

Despite, record-seeking climbers, people continue to rush to the summit. On Sunday, Pasang Dawa Sherpa, widely known as Pa Dawa, climbed Everest for the 31st time.

British climber Kenton Cool has climbed Everest 20 times, further extending the record of most Everest ascents as a non-Sherpa climber.