KATHMANDU: Two Indian climbers have died on Mount Everest during a record-breaking period of ascents via Nepal’s southern route, as experts warn of overcrowding on the world’s highest peak.

“They fell ill while descending at high altitude. We are working out how to retrieve the bodies,” Nivesh Karki, director at Pioneer Adventures, said.

He named them as San­deep Are, who he said summited on May 20, and Arun Kumar Tiwari, who rea­ched the peak on May 21.

On Thursday, a record number of climbers reached the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) Himalayan peak from the Nepali side, according to tourism officials, who gave a preliminary total of 275 pending final confirmation.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists the highest number to climb Everest in a single day as 354, in May 2019.

Nepali tourism officials said the final number will be tallied after the climbs are verified, which require photographs and statements from the climber’s expedition company and guides.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2026