Kathmandu: Nepal’s tourism authority has denied accusations that the rise in Mount Everest deaths is solely due to “overcrowding” and said factors including adverse weather conditions also resulted in the deaths. Tourism Department’s Director General Dandu Raj Ghimire said 381 people had ascended Everest this spring but as periods of fine weather had been short, the number of people on the routes had been “higher than expected”. So far, 10 climbers have been reported dead or missing this season. But Ghimire put the current death toll at eight, the BBC reported. Four Indians including Kalpana Das, Nihal Bagwan and Anjali Kulkarni are among the dead. (IANS)
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