Four corpses, one skeleton and 11 tonnes of garbage faraway from Mount Everest

Troops are battling to remove more than 200 bodies of perished climbers from Mount Everest.

The Nepalese army has been tasked with cleaning up the world’s highest mountain which has been blighted by overcrowding.

So far this year soldiers spent 55 days removing 11 tonnes of rubbish, four bodies and one skeleton from the peak and neighbouring Himalayan mountains Nuptse and Lhotse.

Experts say more than 200 bodies and 50 tonnes of waste remain on Everest.

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Five clean-ups since 2019 collected 119 tonnes of rubbish, 14 bodies and some skeletons, the army has said.

This year authorities aimed to improve rescues and reduce rubbish by making climbers wear tracking devices and bring back their own poo.

Rakesh Gurung (corr), Nepal’s Department of Tourism director of mountaineering, said the government plans to create a team of mountain rangers team to combat the issues.

For the spring climbing season that ended in May the government issued 421 permits – down from last year’s (2023) record-breaking 478.

Including Nepalese guides 600 people have scaled Everest this year.

Eight climbers died or went missing compared to 19 last year.

Brit Daniel Paterson and his Nepalese guide Pastenji Sherpa are among those missing after being hit by falling ice on May 21.

Mr Paterson’s family started a fundraiser to hire a search team to find them but said in an update this week that recovery `is not possible at this time’ because of the location and danger of the operation.

Mr Gurung said the number of permits was lower this year due to the global economic situation, China also issuing permits and India’s national election which reduced the number of climbers from there.

Last month (May) Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered the government to restrict permits.

Mr Gurung said the government was considering staggering climbers to reduce traffic jams at the summit.

The government will work with experts to determine a safe number to allow on the mountain.

“Without the scientific study it can’t be said what will be the perfect number for Mount Everest,’” he added.

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