Climbers Did Not Die Due To Congestion On Mt Everest: Nepal

Kathmandu: Nepal’s Department of Tourism (DoT) on Thursday said the deaths on Mount Everest were caused by high altitude sickness and other health reasons and not due to congestion.

This comes at a time when the Himalayan nation is facing immense criticism for issuing too many permits to scale the world’s tallest peak while disregarding the safety of the climbers.

“Our attention has been drawn to the wrong information about deaths on Everest conveyed by national and international media,” said Dandu Raj Ghimire, Director General of DoT, adding that a “traffic jam” did not cause the deaths.

According to Ghimire, the post-mortem reports of the deceased climbers have shown that they died due to high altitude sickness, weakness or adverse weather conditions.

In the statement, the Nepalese DoT has stated that it had issued 366 expedition permits in 2017 and 346 expedition permits in 2018- not a huge difference compared to 381 permits issued this year for the highest peak.

“Hence, it untrue that congestion killed climbers on Mount Everest and we urge everyone not to be swayed by false information,” the statement added.

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