KATHMANDU: A helicopter has retrieved the body of a Dutch climber who died last week on Mt Everest while attempts were being made to retrieve the bodies of two other climbers.

The body of Eric Arnold of Rotterdam was flown from Everest directly to a hospital in Kathmandu on Thursday to be put in the morgue.

He died Friday night near South Col after showing signs of altitude sickness.

Attempts were being made to retrieve the bodies of an Australian and an Indian climber but it was unclear when they will be brought to Kathmandu.

Five climbers have died and two are missing on Everest, while nearly 400 have scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak this month.

This year's busy climbing season follows two years of disasters that virtually emptied the mountain.