Mountain Everest death toll rises to four after Chinese climber’s body has been found today

The body of climber missing on Mountain Everest has been found today, bringing the death toll from the weekend to four, Nepali officials say.

The body of Chinese climber Ha Wenyi, 55, was spotted close to where three others died at the weekend, mountaineering official Gyanendra Shrestha told news agency AP.

The three were from South Korea, Germany and Canada.

All died while returning from the mountain’s summit, officials say.

Ha Wenyi’s body was found by climbers in an area near the top of the 8,848-metre peak where Nepali-born Canadian Shriya Shah, 32, German Eberhard Schaaf, 61, and South Korean Song Won-bin, 44, also died.

But a Nepalese guide who was previously reported missing had reached the base camp, Gyanendra Shrestha said.

More than 300 climbers belonging to 33 different teams have received official permits to climb the mountain from the Nepali side this season, said mountaineering official Dipendra Poudel.

That figure does not include local Nepalese who are assisting the climbers, working as porters or helpers.

The mountain’s worst-ever climbing season was in 1996, when 15 climbers died, eight of them in one day.