Every minute counts: Deaths rise on Mount Everest as Nepal issues more permits

Nepal’s reluctance to limit the number of permits it issues to scale Mount Everest has contributed to dangerous overcrowding, with inexperienced climbers impeding others and causing deadly delays, seasoned mountaineers said. (AP)

Eleven people have died this season which is the highest number since 2015. Most of the deaths have been due to altitude sickness, which is caused by low amounts of oxygen at high elevation and can cause headaches, vomiting, shortness of breath and mental confusion. (AP)

Indian climber Ameesha Chauhan, soaking her frostbitten toes in medicine at a hospital in Kathmandu, described the agony of turning away from the peak when she realized her supplemental oxygen supply was low. (AP)

Two of Chauhan's team members died on the May 16 ascent. She returned and scaled the peak a week later. (AP)

Eric Murphy, a mountain guide from Bellingham, said “Every minute counts there,” Murphy climbed Everest for a third time on May 23. He said what should have taken 12 hours took 17 hours because of struggling climbers who were clearly exhausted but had no one to guide or help them. (AP)

This year, permits were issued to 381 people, the highest number ever, according to the government. They were accompanied by an equal number of guides from Nepal’s ethnic Sherpa community. (PTI)