He Lost 9 Fingers on Everest, Then Lost His Life

Two foreign climbers attempting to scale Mount Everest have died on the world's highest peak, a Nepal mountaineering official said Monday. Members of their expedition teams reported a Japanese climber died Monday and a Macedonian died on Sunday, said Gyanendra Shrestha, who is stationed at Everest's base camp during the climbing season and received the reports of the deaths. The Japanese climber was identified as 35-year-old Nobukazu Kuriki and the Macedonian was 63-year-old Gjeorgi Petkov, the AP reports.

Kuriki was a known mountaineer who climbed many mountains and made what Kyodo reports was seven previous attempts to summit Everest. He had not been successful and lost all but one of his fingers due to frostbite during an attempt in 2012. Shrestha said Kuriki's body was around the Camp 2 area while the Macedonian climber's body was at a higher elevation. Further details were not available. Some 340 foreign climbers and their Sherpa guides are attempting to scale Everest this month and many succeeded in the past week during good weather. Teams have to end their attempts by the end of this month as weather conditions deteriorate. (A man who lost both feet to frostbite in a 1975 attempt made it to the summit last week.)