Kenyan and Nepali climbers die on Everest, three missing

Kathmandu: A Kenyan and a Nepali climber have died close to Everest s summit, tourism officials said Thursday, taking this season s toll on the world...

Kathmandu: A Kenyan and a Nepali climber have died close to Everest's summit, tourism officials said Thursday, taking this season's toll on the world's highest mountain to at least four.

Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui, 40, and his Nepali guide Nawang Sherpa, 44, went out of contact Wednesday morning and a search team was deployed on the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) high mountain.

"The team have found the Kenyan climber dead between the summit and the Hillary Step, but his guide is still missing," Khim Lal Gautam, chief of the tourism department's field office at the base camp, told AFP.

Another Nepali climber, Binod Babu Bastakoti, 37, died at about 8,200 metres (26,902 feet) on Wednesday, a statement from the tourism department said.

Search parties are also still looking for a 40-year-old British climber and his Nepali guide who went missing Tuesday morning after a snow mass collapsed as they descended from Everest's peak.