Indian mountaineers who died after scaling Mt Everest were passionate climbers: Relatives

Two Indian mountaineers, Sandeep Are and Arun Kumar Tiwari, have died while descending from Mount Everest, leaving behind grieving families and friends.

Sandeep Are and Arun Kumar Tiwari, who died while descending from Mount Everest, were passionate mountaineers who loved adventure, friends and relatives recalled on Saturday.

While Are, a US-based IT professional, is a native of Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh, Tiwari, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, is settled in Hyderabad.

According to Shyam, brother-in-law of Are, he scaled Mount Everest on May 20, but succumbed to health complications on May 21.

''We are working towards repatriating his body, so the family can catch his last glimpse,'' he told PTI.

Though Are is an avid mountaineer who scaled many peaks across continents such as Kilimanjaro, his parents were against his adventures, Shyam said.

Tiwari and Are were trained by Boots and Crampon, an Indian company organising expeditions and treks all over the world.

Tiwari (53), a senior professional in an IT company, is an accomplished mountaineer.

He had climbed Mt Elbrus (Russia), Mt Denali (US) and Mt Aconcagua (Argentina), besides multiple peaks, sources in Boots and Crampon said.

Bringing the body down from high altitude is an expensive affair, they said.

Tiwari and Are might have exhausted while they were coming down from the peak and could not be saved despite the best efforts of their guides, said Rishi Bhandari, secretary general of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal.

It appears that Are summited on Wednesday and Tiwari on Thursday around 5.30 pm, Bhandari said.

The guides ''worked really hard'' but were not able to save them, he said.

Boots and Crampon sources said Tiwari had two experienced Sherpa guides (Rinzi and Aseem) and they were trying to descend together. But, he was exhausted at the Hillary Step and the guides were not able to bring him back.

He had attempted to scale Mt Everest in 2025 but withdrew after climbing about 7,200 metres owing to health issues, they said.

Tiwari is survived by wife and two daughters.

Tiwari died near the Hillary Step, just below the summit, after falling ill during his descent on Thursday evening while being assisted by four Sherpa climbers, according to Nivesh Karki, Director at Nepal-based Pioneer Adventures, which organised the expedition.

Are (46) summited on May 20 but became unwell during the descent. He was rescued by Sherpa guides from the South Summit and died shortly after arriving at Camp II early May 22.

IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guides Association) guide Dandu Sherpa and other Sherpas tried to help Are, the sources added.

Are had climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Lobuche East and Mt Aconcagua in the past.