Middle-Aged Hiker Dies Near Everest Base Camp

An Australian trekker has died near the Mount Everest base camp, reports the AP, possibly due to high-altitude sickness, police said Monday. The 49-year-old man died Friday at Lobuche village, located just below the base camp, at 16,200 feet, said Nepalese police official Khil Raj Bhattarai. Police identified the man as Jones Matthew Oldisworth. His body was taken to Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. Australian news reports said the man was from Melbourne.

Thousands of foreign trekkers hike up to the base camp during the spring and autumn season, when the weather is favorable. The popular trek lasts about two weeks, and the trekkers are allowed only up to the base camp. Only climbers with a special permit are allowed to go beyond and attempt to scale the world's highest peak. High-altitude sickness is also common for visitors to the area who are not used to the thinner level of oxygen. (More Mount Everest stories.)