Bengal mountaineer conquers Mt Everest, dies while descending

Hours after conquering Mt Everest, a 44-year-old mountaineer of West Bengal died on Friday, while descending from the summit, his family said.

Subrata Ghosh, a school teacher by profession and a veteran in mountaineering, hailed from Ranaghat in Nadia district of West Bengal.

“We got the news from Nepal that my elder brother has died near the Hillary Step while coming down after scaling Mt Everest. I do not know what exactly happened to him. He had been absolutely fine. We expect to hear in detail from his sherpa,” Ghosh’s brother Surajit said.

The Hillary Step is a 40-foot vertical rock face that sits 8,790 m above sea level on the southeast ridge of Mount Everest.

Ghosh had reached the summit along with his guide around 2 pm (Nepal time) on Thursday, his brother said.

“What we have learnt till now is that he started showing signs of exhaustion while descending, and he was reluctant to leave the Hillary Step. His sherpa returned without him to Camp IV after that... I was told that the Sherpa is also ill,” he said.

Ghosh conquered at least 13 peaks around the globe, Surajit said.

“This was his first expedition to Mt Everest, and he conquered it, making us proud. But we did not know we had to hear this news,” Surajit said.

Ghosh was accompanied by his cousin, Sumitra Debnath, for the expedition, but she remained near the base camp.