Exhaustion kills two Everest climbers, an American and a Swiss

Mount Everest, the world's highest peak

A Swiss and an American climber have died on Mount Everest, hiking company officials said on Thursday, the first fatalities on the world’s highest peak this season. Abdul Waraich, 41, of Switzerland and American Puwei Liu, 55, died of exhaustion while descending the slopes of the 8,848.86 metre (29,031.69-foot) mountain on Wednesday, said Thaneshwar Guragai, a manager of the Seven Summit Treks company that provided support to the climbers. ‘Additional sherpas were sent with supplies and oxygen but unfortunately they could not save them,’ he told Reuters. Waraich, who was on his way down after reaching the summit, died near the south summit, according to Chhang Dawa Sherpa, another official of the company.