Mount Everest: Kenyan climber Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui dead and Nepalese sherpa still missing

CNN
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An experienced Kenyan mountaineer died Wednesday and rescuers are still searching for the Nepalese sherpa who accompanied him, after the team attempted to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, according to the Nepalese government and his employer.

The body of Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui, 40, was found about 20 meters from the summit of the world’s highest mountain, an official with Nepal’s tourism ministry told CNN.

“His sherpa is still missing and the expedition agency is still looking for him,” official Gautam Khim Lal also told CNN by telephone, speaking from the foot of the mountain.

Kirui, a Nairobi-based banker, and guide Nawang Sherpa, 44, were reported missing on Wednesday morning after losing radio contact. A rescue team then began searching for them in camps and trails along the vast mountain, Gautam told CNN.

Kirui’s body was discovered Wednesday evening local time in Nepal, approximately 28,970 feet (8,830 meters) above sea level.

His employer, KCB Bank, called him a “passionate athlete and mountaineer,” saying he was “the second Kenyan to reach the summit of Everest” in an article on X.

Kirui documented his courageous attempt to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen in his latest Instagram post. “An attempt without oxygen involves special preparations and risks, physically my body is ready,” he wrote, also explaining the precautions he was taking.

He listed the medications he was carrying to treat possible illness or frostbite and said his guide would also carry an emergency oxygen tank.

“And so, after heavy investments physical, mental, temporal (this expedition takes over a month for a regular 8 to 5 banker), financial (the number of zeros necessary for this to happen means that I declare bankruptcy as soon as my return to Kenya)…now is the moment of truth,” he wrote.

Congratulatory comments and good luck wishes on the Instagram post were quickly replaced with messages of condolence as news spread that her body had been found.

Kirui was a lover of the outdoors, running ultramarathons and climbing some of the world’s most intimidating mountains, according to his colleagues.

“His indomitable will and unwavering passion for mountaineering led him to conquer the most impressive landscapes in the world,” wrote Paul Russo, CEO of the KCB Group. “His recent triumphs on Mount Manaslu and Mount Everest are testament to his adventurous spirit and determination.”

Mount Everest, the highest peak in the Himalayan mountain range, is also the highest mountain in the world, rising 29,035 feet (8,850 meters) above sea level on the border between the Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous region of China. More than 300 people are known to have died on the mountain.

Spring is the preferred time to climb Everest, although some climbers might do so during the less favorable fall season. Most climbers attempt to summit in May. There is a brief period of time – usually after mid-May – when temperatures are warmer and the high-altitude winds known as the jet stream have moved away from the mountains.

Reporting provided by CNN’s Sugam Pokharel.