Human Traffic Jams Have Led to 18 Deaths on Mt. Everest

A 41-year-old British man was the 18th person to die this climbing season after waiting in long lines to come down from Mt. Everest. Robin Haynes Fisher became too exhausted to descend the mountain after getting stuck in a human traffic jam in the so-called “death zone” where oxygen levels are infamously low, according to Reuters. “He died because of weakness after a long ascent and difficult descent,” Murari Sharma of the Everest Parivar Treks company told Reuters. “He was descending with his Sherpa guides from the summit when he suddenly fainted.” Everest tourism officials said that most of the deaths were due to weakness, exhaustion and delays on the over-crowded route to the summit.