<span style="color: #222222;">A Swiss and an American climber have died on Mount Everest, the first fatalities on the world’s highest peak this season. Thaneshwar Guragai, a manager of the Seven Summit Treks company that provided support to the climbers said on Thursday that, Abdul Waraich, 41, of Switzerland and American Puwei Liu, 55, died of exhaustion while descending the slopes of the 8,848.86 metre mountain on Wednesday.</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">&nbsp;</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">Waraich, who was on his way down after reaching the summit, died near the south summit. Liu could not reach the summit of Everest and died on descent near a 7,900 metre camp at the South Col after suffering snow blindness and exhaustion.</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">&nbsp;</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">More details were not immediately available. Everest has been scaled by more than 6,000 climbers since it was first conquered by Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953.</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">&nbsp;</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">At&nbsp;least 311 people have died on its slopes.</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">&nbsp;</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">Nepal has issued a record 408 permits to climb Everest in the April-May climbing season after last year's closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.</span><br />” &nbsp;<br />