Three more climbers die in Mount Everest 'Traffic Jam' after Nepal issues a record 381 permits this season

The human traffic jam on slopes of Mount Everest claimed three more lives, including that of two Indians and an Australian, media reports stated on Friday. 49-year-old Kalpana Das from Odisha,  27-year-old Nihal Ashpak Bagwan from Pune, and Australian Ernst Landgraf are the three climbers who lost their lives during their expedition to the world's highest peak. 

16 mountaineers including eight Indians died on the overcrowded slopes of Mount Everest this season after Nepal issued a record 381 permits costing 11,000 US Dollars each for this year's climbing season. 

Nearly 80 Indian climbers were allowed to scale Mount Everest this season which is the highest in a list of international expeditions permitted to climb the world's highest peak. As per media reports, around 600 people, including international and Nepalese climbers, Sherpa mountain guides and porters have reached the summit this season. 

Nepal opened the climbing route to the world's highest peak on May 14, when a team of eight Sherpas successfully scaled the Mount Everest, becoming the first team to reach the summit. On May 24, the largest number of climbers numbering over 200 headed towards Mount Everest. The next window to climb Everest is on May 27, she said, adding that there are around 100 climbers waiting to conquer the peak on Monday. 

Hundreds of climbers flock each year to Nepal to scale the Himalayan peaks during the spring season that begins around March and ends in June. As per media reports, nearly 6,000 climbers have scaled the summit since Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay first conquered Mount Everest in 1953.

(With inputs from PTI)