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Subhash Paul, Eric Arnold and Maria Strydom all made it to the top of Mount Everest and suffered altitude sickness. USA TODAY
International trekkers pass through a glacier at the Mount Everest base camp in Nepal on Feb. 22,2016.(Photo: Tashi Sherpa, AP)
Mount Everest claimed three lives in three<span style="color: Red;">*</span>days while two other climbers remained missing on the crowded, treacherous mountain<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Monday.
The tragedies heightened concerns once again about the dangers of climbing the world's tallest mountain, located in Nepal and Tibet.
Indian climber Subhash Paul died Sunday while being helped down the mountain by Sherpa guides<span style="color: Red;">*</span>one day after reaching the summit.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Two other Indian climbers<span style="color: Red;">*</span>lost contact with their group and disappeared Saturday on slopes known as the “death zone,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and hopes for their survival were fading.
Late Friday, Eric Arnold, 35, a Dutchman from<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Rotterdam, had reached the summit on his fifth attempt just<span style="color: Red;">*</span>hours before his death. Early Saturday, Australian climber Maria Strydom, 34, who was trekking with her husband, also died while descending the mountain.
All three were victims of altitude sickness.
Scores of climbers have managed to reach the summit in the past few days. Among them was the first combat amputee to climb the mountain, Marine Corps veteran Thomas Charles "Charlie" Linville, 30, who lost his leg to an IED in Iraq in 2011. He<span style="color: Red;">*</span>used a prosthesis to reach the top of Everest on Thursday. Another combat amputee, former Army reservist<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Chad Jukes, 32, is attempting to follow Linville to the top in an expedition that includes<span style="color: Red;">*</span>two Army officers.
When weather permits, Everest<span style="color: Red;">*</span>draws hundreds of climbers each year seeking its summit. But the climb down can be treacherous as exhausted climbers race the clock and sometimes weather to return to safe altitudes. And good weather draws a rush of climbers, which can clog the icy, treacherous routes.
USA TODAY
Deaths, rescue mark perilous weekend on Mount Everest
"Many climbers without any experience crowd Everest every year, and companies often use poor quality equipment... offering cheap packages to clients who are exposed to security risks," Nepal Mountaineering Association Chief Ang Tshering Sherpa told Reuters.
Massive tragedies in recent years have put an economic crunch on the climbing industry.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>At least 18 people died last year when an earthquake sent a massive snow slide roaring through Base Camp, abruptly ending the climbing season. In 2014,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>an avalanche killed 16 guides,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>virtually<span style="color: Red;">*</span>halting<span style="color: Red;">*</span>climbing on Everest.
Relatively good conditions so far this year have brought large numbers of summit hopefuls to the mountain the Nepalese call<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sagarm?th?, which loosely translates to "forehead in the sky."
Belgian climber Jelle Vegt<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told the Associated Press he reached the peak May 13 without issue.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>But he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said a few days of bad weather then<span style="color: Red;">*</span>created<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a bottleneck that forced climbers to wait in line high on the mountain.
"The last two disasters on Everest were caused by nature, but not this one," Ang Tshering told AP.
Nepal Mountaineering Department official Gyanendra Shrestha told The Himalayan Times that about<span style="color: Red;">*</span>30 climbers have developed frostbite or become sick near the summit in recent days. She said good<span style="color: Red;">*</span>weather has allowed almost 400 climbers to reach the summit from Nepal since May 11<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but added that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the altitude, weather and harsh terrain can cause problems at any time.
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