A Kenyan climber who went missing with his guide while attempting to scale Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen on Wednesday morning has been found dead, Nepalese officials announced Thursday.

Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui’s body was located about 65 feet below the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Nepal’s Department of Tourism told ABC News.

The mountaineer had aimed to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen and become the first African to do so.

Kirui was accompanied by Nepalese guide Nawang Sherpa, who remains missing. The guide reportedly had an emergency oxygen bottle in case the Kenyan “lost consciousness or went crazy.”

The climber’s death brings the season’s death toll to three, after two Mongolian climbers who went missing on May 12 were presumed dead.

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A post shared by Cheruiyot Kirui (@cheruiyot_ak)

British climber Daniel Paterson and his Nepalese guide, Pas Tenji Sherpa, also remain missing after their expedition was hit by an icefall on Everest’s north side on Tuesday.

Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler were the first men to reach the summit of Everest without supplemental oxygen, in May 1978.

In 2022, James Kagambi became the first Kenyan to reach the top of Everest, at age 62.

Nepal has issued more than 900 permits to climb its mountains this year, including 419 for Everest, bringing in more than $5 million in revenue.

Last year, more than 600 climbers summitted Mount Everest. However, 18 people died attempting the feat, making it the deadliest season on record.

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