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Dead Bodies Are Discovered Beneath Melted Mount Everest Glacier

Dead Bodies Are Discovered Beneath Melted Mount Everest Glacier

It costs around £60,000 to remove the bodies from the mountain

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

It's the world's tallest mountain but every year hundreds of fearless adventurers make a bid to scale Mount Everest, with most being forced to turn back or in some cases losing their lives.

Around 300 people have tragically died in an attempt to write their name in history, including 22 people in just one day in 2015 - and many of their bodies are now being exposed as the mountain's glaciers melt.

Former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association, Ang Tshering Sherpa, said the melted sheets were the result of climate change.

"Because of global warming, the ice sheet and glaciers are fast melting and the dead bodies that remained buried all these years are now becoming exposed.

"We have brought down dead bodies of some mountaineers who died in recent years, but the old ones that remained buried are now coming out."

Mount Everest is one of the world's toughest challenges for explorers and adventurers.
PA

However, given where the bodies are - most of them surfacing in the Khumbu Icefall and South Coll areas of the mountain range - trying to get to them and move them is an incredibly difficult task.

And it's one made even tougher because of Nepal's laws, which demand the involvement of the country's government.

Speaking to BBC News, an official said a number of corpses have appeared over the last few years.

Many of the bodies have been found in the Khumbu Icefall.
PA

They said: "Hands and legs of dead bodies have appeared at the base camp as well in the last few years.

"We have noticed that the ice level at and around the base camp has been going down, and that is why the bodies are becoming exposed."

It's also not a cheap process either, with reports claiming it costs around £60,000 to remove dead bodies from the mountain.

Several studies have backed up the theory that glaciers in the Himalayas are in danger of disappearing.

It's thought that around 300 people have lost their lives on the mountain.
PA

According to the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment, if CO2 emissions are not drastically cut, as much as two thirds of the enormous ice sheets could disappear, while even if the world limits the temperature rise to just 1.5C this century, it's believed at least a third of the ice will still melt.

Specialists have also pointed to the fact hat the Khumbu Glacier is also moving, as a major concern.

Vice president of Nepal National Mountain Guides Association,Tshering Pandey Bhote, said: "Because of the movement of the Khumbu Glacier, we do get to see dead bodies from time to time. But most climbers are mentally prepared to come across such a sight."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Science, World News, Interesting

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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