KATHMANDU: A 63-year-old climber from the southeastern Europe died while attempting to climb the world’s highest mountain this afternoon, according to base camp officials.

Gjeorgi Petkov, from Republic of Macedonia, breathed his last above Camp III on Mt Everest after he suffered a cardiac arrest while heading for Yellow Band to prepare for the final summit push, Kami Nuru Sherpa, a base camp manager, told THT.

Petkov was a part of an expedition led by British mountaineer and commercial expedition leader Tim Mosedale. “Efforts are underway to descend his body to the lower camps,” Sherpa added.

According to the base camp officials, a Sherpa climber has been seriously injured after he was struck by falling rocks and snow near Camp II. “Tshering Dorji Sherpa, a climbing guide of an expedition run by Snowy Horizon Treks Pvt. Ltd has been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment,” they said.

Base camp officials also confirmed that climbing guide Lama Babu Sherpa, who went missing near South Summit since May 14, was presumed dead. Earlier, Russian climber Rustem Amirov died of altitude sickness while attempting to climb Mt Lhotse near Camp II on May 17.