Cheruiyot Kirui, a Kenyan mountain climber who was reported missing on Mt. Everest, has been found dead.
The body of Cheruiyot was discovered on Thursday, May 23, below the summit point of Mt. Everest by rescuers from Seven Summit.
However, according to base camp officials at Mt. Everest, Cheruiyot’s Nepali guide, Nawang Sherpa, is still missing.
Cheruiyot, a banker with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), was on a mission to climb the world’s highest mountain without the use of supplemental oxygen before he vanished with his guide.
According to the chairman of Seven Summit Treks, Mingma Sherpa, Cheruiyot lost contact with his guide just at Bishop Rock point, a few metres below the peak of Mt. Everest.
“Nawang had last communicated with the base camp officials from Bishop Rock that Kirui refused to return and even consume bottled oxygen but showed abnormal behaviour,” the base camp officials at Everest said.
Bishop Rock is located at an altitude of 8,000 metres above sea level, which is 849 metres below the summit of Mt. Everest, which stands at 8,849 metres above sea level.
The excursion by Cheruiyot had been organized by the Seven Summit Treks, which is based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
The banker, a veteran mountain climber, successfully scaled Mt. Manaslu, which stands at 8,163 metres, without supplemental oxygen in September 2023.
