British Climber and Guide Missing on Mount Everest as Death of Another Mountaineer Confirmed

"Our thoughts and prayers are with their families during this challenging time," said an expedition company

A British climber and his Nepali guide remain missing after they reportedly reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 21, while a Kenyan adventurer who had been scaling the same mountain was confirmed dead.

Daniel Paterson, 40, and his guide Pas Tenji Sherpa, 23, disappeared when an ice collapse knocked them out upon their descent, The Independent and The Daily Beast reported.

Per BBC News, 8K Expeditions, an adventure company that put together the expedition, said that rescuers were unable to locate the two, adding that Paterson and the guide "fell down towards the Tibet side through a very vertical steep.”

In an Instagram post, 8K Expeditions shared about the missing persons following the cornice collapse: “Eyewitnesses reported the incident took place between Summit Ridge and South Summit and some climbers were swept away in Kangshung Face.”

Related: Climber Dead After 2-Person Team Falls 1,000 Feet Off Alaska Mountain

“Our dedicated search and rescue teams are deployed on the ground,” the statement continued. “They are working tirelessly to locate our missing climbers. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families during this challenging time.”

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Paterson, a co-owner of the U.K.-based Wakefield Crossfit, undertook the expedition to raise funds for the family of a gym member who died from cancer, via BBC News.

Paterson and Sherpa’s disappearance comes as officials confirmed the death of Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui, a Kenyan mountaineer who went missing Wednesday as he was attempting to climb Everest, per ABC News. Via Nepal’s Department of Tourism, Kirui’s body was located more than 60 feet below the mountain’s peak.

The tourism department said Kirui's guide remained missing, The Independent reported.

Related: Solo Climber from Japan Found Dead at 17,000 Feet After Falling on Alaska's Mt. Denali

According to BBC News, Kirui, 40, was looking to become the first African to scale Everest without additional oxygen.

In his last Instagram post dated May 17, Kirui wrote in part: “My plan...A no-oxygen attempt comes with it's special preparations and risks, physically my body is ready.”

The Himalayan newspaper reported Kirui’s guide had last spoken with base camp officials from Bishop Rock, saying that “Kirui refused to return and even consume bottled oxygen but showed abnormal behaviour."

Kiriu was a banker with Kenya Commercial Bank, CBS News reported.

“And so after heavy investment physically, mentally, timewise (this expedition is taking more than a month from a regular 8 to 5 banker), financially (the amount of zeros needed to make this happen means I declare bankruptcy immediately I land back in Kenya)...it's now the moment of truth,” Kiriu later wrote in his last Instagram post.

Related: 1 American Climber Killed, 1 Missing After Twin Avalanches Near Peak of Tibet Mountain

Another climber, James Muhia, remembered Kiriu in an X (formerly Twitter) post, writing: “I have found myself shedding tears this morning after confirmation that my brother @cheruiyot_ak has rested on the mountain. No one can ever understand the heart and the mind of a mountaineer. The drive that takes us to some places. It is a sad day. Our brother is now one with the mountain . It will be a difficult time."

“Go well my brother,” Muhia concluded.

According to Outside, with the news of Kiriu’s death, the number of fatalities on Mount Everest so far this year is five.

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