Dutch, Australian Climbers Die After Reaching Everest Summit

A Dutch man and an Australian woman died of apparent altitude sickness while descending from the summit of Mount Everest in the first deaths this year on the world's highest mountain.

Eric Arnold, 35, had enough bottled oxygen with him, as well as climbing partners, but he complained of getting weak and died Friday night near South Col before he was able to get to a lower altitude, said Pasang Phurba of the Seven Summit Treks agency in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Maria Strydom also showed signs of altitude sickness Saturday afternoon before she died, Australian media reported. The business school at Monash University in Melbourne posted on Facebook that the community was deeply saddened by her death.

Their deaths were the first confirmed this year on Everest, where favorable weather has allowed hundreds of climbers to reach the summit. The busy season follows two years in which Everest was virtually empty due to disasters.
Phurba said more details were not available because of poor communications with people on the 29,035-foot mountain.
Arnold was from Rotterdam, according to his Twitter account, which was updated on Friday with a post that he had reached the summit on his fifth try.