Five bodies retrieved from Everest as melting snow reveals peak ‘turning into graveyard’

New Delhi, NT Bureau: A stark reminder of the dangers of climbing Mount Everest is being revealed as global warming is exposing more corpses than ever on the world’s tallest peak.

Five unidentified bodies have recently been removed from the mountain by Nepal’s army, including one skeleton, and a corpse that took 11 hours to free as it was encased in ice up to the head, reports The Independent.

An estimated 300 people have lost their lives attempting to scale the mountain since the 1920s, and it has attracted particular controversy in recent years because of overcrowding concerns over so-called adventure tourists. At least eight people have lost their lives on Everest this year.

The mountain claimed 18 lives in 2023, the highest number ever recorded. Everest hit the headlines in the UK in May after a cornice - an overhanging of ice - collapsed, causing British gym owner Dan Paterson and his sherpa guide to go missing after falling from a significant height.

“Because of the effects of global warming, [the bodies and trash] are becoming more visible as the snow cover thins,” an army officer involved in the search and cleanup operation, Aditya Karki, told AFP.

While some bodies have become trail markers on the route to the summit, still dressed in their climbing gear, others have frightened climbers as they try to make the summit.

A stark example was shared on social media last year by a climber who screamed when she saw a body sliding down the mountain.