High above the clouds on Earth's tallest mountain, climbers continue their arduous ascent of Mount Everest.
The short spring climbing season, which usually lasts from April to May, is the best time to climb the mountain. The weather is clear and there is little wind, but that doesn't guarantee safety. At least five people have died and three are missing since the start of this season, according to authorities.
The situation has led to traffic jams and disturbing videos have been circulating showing long queues of climbers waiting in precarious conditions on the cliffs.
In recent years, the climb's popularity has raised concerns that overcrowding, competition and inadequate screening of new climbers are making it more dangerous.
More climbers are feared to die.
Most climbers tackle the mountain from Nepal, a journey that involves a 10-day trek to base camp, several weeks of acclimatization, and then another week of climbing to the summit.
But the journey is brutal: Over 300 people are known to have died on Everest, with an estimated 200 of those bodies remaining there due to the difficulty of retrieving them.
Last spring set a grim record with 18 deaths, making it the deadliest year on record in recent history, according to climbing group Himalayan Database.
Nepalese authorities have confirmed at least five deaths this year, and the number is likely to rise.
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Nepalese climber Vinod Babu Bastakoti, 37, died on Wednesday just above the base point where he was attempting to summit.
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Kenyan climber Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui, 40, also died near the summit on Wednesday. His guide, Nawang Sherpa, remains missing.
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British climber Daniel Paul Patterson, 40, and Nepalese guide Pastenji Sherpa, 23, are missing after an iceberg broke off near the summit on Tuesday.
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Romanian climber Gabriel Viorel Tabara, 46, also died on Tuesday in his tent at the forward base camp.
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Two Mongolian climbers, Uskjargal Tsedendamba, 53, and Purevsuren Lukagbajav, 31, died on May 13 while attempting to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen or Sherpa guides.
A line of climbers became stranded when an snow cornice collapsed.
The group was briefly stranded when a snow cornice collapsed near other climbers, causing several people to fall.
The iceberg broke off near Everest's South Peak on Tuesday as climbers were descending from the summit and passing Hillary Step, about 8,800 meters (28,871 feet) above sea level.
8K Expeditions said several climbers were able to re-summit the summit but despite search efforts, British climber Patterson and his Sherpa guide “have not been found”.
Authorities have not confirmed the deaths of the pair, but it will be difficult to rescue them alive, 8K Expeditions director Lhakpa Sherpa said on Saturday.
“There was a traffic jam that day,” Sherpa said, adding that the lack of coordination had caused at least 150 climbers to get stuck. “People got impatient and tried to step over.”
Mountain guide Vinayak Jaya Malla, who was at the summit on Tuesday, shared footage of climbers perched along a narrow ridge at the top of the mountain, as well as others who appeared to be using safety ropes to ascend through the snow.
“Many climbers were stuck in a traffic jam and lacked oxygen,” he said on social media, adding that four other climbers who came close to death had also been clipped into ropes.
He said that after the cornice collapsed, it became impossible to cross, and climbers eventually used a new route to descend.
Fewer permits have been issued to climbers this year.
Everest Base Camp official Kimlal Gautam said this year's climb will be longer than last year's.
He said permits had been issued to 421 climbers this year, compared with 478 last year, but said it was difficult to say whether overcrowding had put climbers at risk.
“Obviously, Everest, especially the Hillary Step, gets congested as climbers race to the summit,” Gautam said, adding that some climbers had not followed instructions to avoid crowding.