Cheruiyot Kirui, Kenyan climber who went missing on Wednesday while on an Everest expedition, has been found dead, few meters below the Everest summit point.
According to the report from the officials of the Seven Summit Treks (SST), a mountaineering company based in Kathmandu, Nepal, they lost contact with Kirui and his guide at Bishop Rock, which is located at altitude of 8,000 metres.
Cheruiyot set out on a risky quest to climb Mount Everest without the need of supplementary oxygen
Kirui the climber and also a banker working with the Kenya Commercial Bank, KCB, had climbed to the peak of Mt Kenya, 15 times.
On his late expedition, that has claimed him his life, Cheruiyot had said that climbing with supplemental oxygen would be quite easy, and that is not what he wanted.
“The challenge for me would be without supplemental oxygen; otherwise, I wouldn’t feel like I’ve achieved much. So I want to see how my body can cope in such altitude,” he said.
Everest is Earth’s highest mountain, with an elevation of 8,848.86 meters above sea level and it is located across the China-Nepal border.
Over 8,000 metres is a “death zone” for climbers on Mount Everest. The body starts to lose oxygen in this region, which impairs judgment and causes cells to begin to die.
