First woman atop Everest dies aged 77

Tokyo: The first woman to conquer Mount Everest, Junko Tabei of Japan, died aged 77, media reported on Saturday. Tabei died of peritoneal cancer on Thursday at a hospital in Saitama, north of Tokyo, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News said, quoting her family. She completed the first conquest of Mount Everest by a woman in 1975, accomplishing the feat via the southeast ridge route. She went on to conquer soaring peaks in several continents - Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount McKinley in the United States and the Vinson Massif in Antarctica - heralding the era of women climbers. AFP