Seven feared dead on Everest

Mount Everest has claimed seven more victims, mountaineers said yesterday after the climbers were caught by a blizzard near the summit of the world's tallest mountain.

Sue Kelly, a spokeswoman for a New Zealand expedition now on the mountain, said the seven climbers did not return from the north face of Everest and they were believed dead about 650 feet from the summit.

Ms Kelly said the missing climbers included three Russians from a Kazak expedition, one German and a Sherpa guide. Todd Burleson, writing to the Mountain Zone Internet site from a base camp on Everest, said one of the other lost climb- ers was South Korean, and named the German climber as Peter Kuwalzik from International Mountain Climbing. The nationality of the seventh climb-er was not known.

Sgt Sunardi, an Indonesian soldier who turned back because of the worsening weather, saw the German climber and the three Russians fight their way up the peak on Thursday.