Kazakh climber killed on Everest KATHMANDU: At least one Kazakh mountaineer was killed in an avalanche in the Everest region today, while hundreds of mountaineers have been rushing to safe shelters to escape heavy snowfall for the last two days. According to Surendra Sapkota, under secretary at the tourism ministry, Sergey Samoilov of Kazakhstan died when an avalanche hit him while he was on his way back from Camp IV to Camp II this afternoon. Samoilov was trapped in the avalanche when he was returning to a safer place after giving up his Everest bid due to heavy snowfall and storm, Ang Tsering Sherpa, former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association, said. Samoilov was a member of the expedition organised by Asian Trekking, which is owned by Sherpa. Meanwhile, a Calgary climber Frank Ziebarth (29) was killed in an avalanche on the Tibetan side of Mt Everest. The avalanche hit Frank when he was descending after his Everest summit. Manuel Pizarro, a member of Frank’s expedition, said Frank died at 8,700m on May 21. According to Sherpa, there have been a total of six deaths, including three Nepalis, in the Everest region this season. More than 100 mountaineers, who have been stranded at the base camp, could not proceed to their destination today as well. “Base camp and surrounding areas have recorded five feet deep snow in the last two days,” Sherpa quoted climbers as saying. Bad weather also forced Pemba Dorjee Sherpa (30) and his two brothers to abandon their bid to set a world record by spending 24 hours on the summit of Everest. Though they reached the summit on May 19, they were forced to retreat after only two hours. The participants of seventh Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon are waiting for favourable weather at Gorak Shep to proceed towards the Everest base camp. Bikram Pandey, managing director of HimEx, which organises the event, said the event would take place on May 29. Event Manager Sushil Bista said the team would reach the base camp by tomorrow evening.