Authorities have removed about 11,000 kilos of waste, including human corpses and skeletons, during this year’s annual clean-up of Mount Everest.
The campaign, led by the Nepalese Army, began on April 11 and took workers 55 days to complete before finishing this week.
They braved the sub-zero weather to gather waste from Everest and its neighbouring Himalayan mountains of Lhotse and Nuptse.
“During the campaign, 11,000 kg of waste, four human corpses and human skeletons were collected as per the set target,” an army spokesperson said.
The bodies were handed over to TU Teaching Hospital’s forensic lab in Kathmandu.
Authorities at the start of the campaign had hoped to locate and retrieve five bodies of people who are believed to have died on the treacherous climb so far this year.
It’s estimated that hundreds more bodies remain somewhere on the mountain.
The world’s highest summit – also dubbed the world’s tallest garage dump – receives about 35,000 visitors a year.
Following environmental concerns over the waste that has amassed at the tourist hotspot, the army began the annual clean-up campaign in 2019.
