The China Mail - Indian, Romanian climbers die on Nepal's Lhotse

Romania's Barna Zsolt Vago, 48, died on Sunday as he was ascending the 8,516-metre (27,940-foot) mountain, Liladhar Awasthi of Nepal's tourism department told AFP.

He was not using supplemental oxygen.

On the same day an Indian climber, Rakesh Kumar, 39, died between Camp 3 and Camp 4 as he was descending after a successful summit.

"Our guides are trying to bring his body back," Prakash Acharya of Makalu Adventure, his expedition organiser, told AFP.

Nepal has issued over 1,100 permits to mountaineers this season, including 107 for Lhotse.

Climbers attempting Lhotse use the same base camp as those aiming for Everest's summit.

They follow the same route up the mountain, scaling the sheer Lhotse Face -- a 1,125-metre wall of ice -- before the path to the neighbouring summits divides.

The incident comes after two people -- a Filipino and an Indian climber -- died on neighbouring Everest last week.

At least five others, including one French, one American, an Austrian and two Nepali climbers, have died on Himalayan mountains since the spring climbing season began.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of climbers each spring, when temperatures are warmer and winds typically calmer.

K.Lam--ThChM