India climber body retrieved from Mount Everest Published duration 29 May 2017

image copyright AFP image caption Rescuers said the recovery of Mr Kumar's body was a risky operation

Rescuers have retrieved the body of an Indian mountaineer who died on Mount Everest and airlifted it to the Nepal capital, a trekking company has said.

Ravi Kumar went missing recently and his body was spotted inside a crevice last week.

The bodies of two other climbers who died last year were also brought to Kathmandu on Sunday.

Mr Kumar had successfully scaled Everest, but was separated from his guide on the climb down.

He is believed to have fallen almost 200m (657 feet) to his death.

The guide was earlier found unconscious at Camp 4, just below 8,000 metres, with severe frostbite.

Rescuers said the recovery of Mr Kumar's body was a risky operation.

"A team of at least eight rescue workers retrieved his body and brought it down to Camp 2 on Saturday," Tashi Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, the company overseeing the operation, told AFP news agency.

His brother Manoj Kumar received the body at a hospital in Kathmandu.

"It was his dream to take our country's flag to the top of Mount Everest," Mr Kumar said.

"We are deeply sad, but also proud of him."

The bodies of Goutam Ghosh and Paresh Nath, two other Indian climbers who died last year but whose remains could not be retrieved because of bad weather, were also brought to Kathmandu.

image copyright AFP image caption Four climbers died on Mount Everest this weekend

All the fatalities occurred in or near the so-called "death zone", where oxygen levels are extremely low.

Ten people have died on Mount Everest this season. They include 85-year-old Min Bahadur Sherchan, who died attempting to reclaim his title as the world's oldest person to reach the top.

More than 200 people have died on Everest since 1920, with the vast majority of those deaths taking place since 1980.

The problem of what to do with those who lose their lives in remote or difficult locations is one that plagues the mountain.