CNN —Gelje Sherpa was on his way to the top of the world’s highest mountain when he spotted the climber clinging to the rope. The climber, from Malaysia, had “nothing” and was “about to die,” the 30-year-old Nepali mountain guide told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an interview Thursday. The sherpa has previously carried out more than 55 rescues, some very long operations, but said this was the “hardest in my life.”Ngima Tashi Sherpa carries a Malaysian climber from the death zone at Mount Everest on May 18, 2023. In recent years, as death tolls have risen on the mountain, climbers and experts have also warned of the dangers of overcrowding. Nepal issued permits for a record 478 climbers for this season’s expeditions to Everest, according to the department’s data.

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Persons: CNN — Gelje, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “, ”, Gelje, –, ” Gelje, ” Ngima Tashi Sherpa, Bigyan Koirala, There’s, Yubaraj, ” Koirala Organizations: CNN, Reuters, sherpa, Everest, Nepal’s Tourism Department Locations: Mount Everest, Malaysia, Malaysian, Everest, Nepal, Pakistan