Climber Missing After Everest Ascent

KATMANDU, Nepal — Three climbers from a South African expedition have conquered the world’s highest peak, but one disappeared during the descent, Nepal’s Tourism Ministry said Sunday.

It said that two South Africans and a Briton reached the 29,028-foot peak of Mt. Everest on Saturday but that the Briton, photographer Bruce Herrod, disappeared while descending to the assault camp.

Ian Woodall, 39, from Rivonia, and Cathy O’Dowd, a 27-year-old journalism lecturer from Grahamstown, were the first two people from the African continent to conquer the peak, the ministry said.

Herrod, 37, who is from London, is a resident of South Africa but entered Nepal on a British passport, it said.

All three, along with three Nepali Sherpa guides, reached the summit by the standard southeast ridge route.

At least 10 people have died on the mountain this month: three Indians, two Americans, two New Zealanders, one Austrian, one Japanese and one Taiwanese.