German Climber Dies in Nepal's Everest Region

W460

A German climber has died while descending a Himalayan peak in eastern Nepal, one week after an American fell to his death on the same mountain, police said Wednesday.

The 58-year-old man died on Monday morning while using fixed ropes on his descent after scaling the 6,812-meter (22,349-foot) Ama Dablam mountain in the Everest region, said local police official Khagendra Bahadur Khadka.

The climber "lost consciousness all of a sudden", Khadka told Agence France Presse. His body was brought to Kathmandu for an autopsy.

A 42-year-old U.S. climber died a week earlier after ascending the same mountain.

Earlier in October a snowstorm in central Nepal killed 43 hikers, porters and guides during peak trekking season.

Searchers have recovered 35 bodies since the snowstorm hit on October 14. They are expected to renew their search for eight people -- thought to include four Canadians, an Indian and three Nepalese -- still buried in the Annapurna region.

"A team of three Canadians and a local guide will likely reach the area where the eight people are buried on Thursday, when they will conduct searches," said Pasang Sherpa of Panorama Himalaya Trekking, which had organised the trekkers' trip.

Thousands of people head to the Annapurna region every October, when the weather is usually at its best for trekking. 

In April 16 guides were killed on Mount Everest in the deadliest disaster to hit the 8,848-meter mountain, sparking an unprecedented shutdown of the world's highest peak.

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