<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>An Indian climber rescued from Everest has died in hospital, a Nepali tourism official said today, taking the number of fatalities this season on the world’s highest mountain to eight.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Banshi Lal, 46, was plucked from the mountain last week and taken to a hospital in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.</div><div><br></div><div>“He died at the hospital yesterday,” Rakesh Gurung of the tourism department told AFP.</div><div><br></div><div>Three people — a British climber and two Nepali guides — among the eight are listed as missing but presumed dead.</div><div><br></div><div>The latest fatality comes as the Everest mountaineering season nears its end, with the death toll relatively low compared to other years.</div><div><br></div><div>Last year was the deadliest season on the mountain with 18 fatalities.</div><div><br></div><div>Three others died climbing other Nepali peaks including a Romanian aiming for Lhotse, neighbouring Everest, and a French and a Nepali climber on Makalu, the fifth highest peak.</div><div><br></div><div>Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds typically calm.</div><div><br></div><div>All the Everest deaths occurred in areas above 8,000m, known as the ‘death zone’, where thin air and low oxygen levels heighten the risk of altitude sickness.</div><div><br></div><div>Nepal has issued more than 900 permits for its mountains this year, including 419 for Everest, earning more than US$5 million in royalties.</div><div><br></div><div>More than 600 climbers and their guides have already reached the summit of Everest after a rope-fixing team reached the peak last month.</div><div><br></div><div>China also reopened the Tibetan route to foreigners this year for the first time since closing it in 2020 because of the pandemic. - AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd/fas</div>