Sergey Ponomarev, member of the expedition of 7 Summits Club, died near the camp ABC

Yesterday, May 5, a member of the 7 Summits Club Everest expedition Sergey Ponomarev died, presumably of a heart attack. He died almost instantly on a trail near the Camp ABC.

May 4th, the team of 7 Summits Club (23 climbers - guides and 11 Sherpas) went to climb the North Col of Everest 7000m. This was the final stage of acclimatization. Shortly after leaving the camp (6400m) Sergey Ponomarev was going very slowly. He was asked to return to the camp 6400m. There he should to spend the night and wait for the descent of the whole team from the North Col. Sergey agreed, and went down to the Camp 6400m. Rest of the team spent a night in the North Col.

The next morning, May 5, a part of the team made a successful ascent on the summit of Changtse 7600m. At noon the whole team started to descend to the Advanced Base Camp.

Sergey, accompanied by a Sherpa, decided to go up the path towards the team. At 100 meters from the Camp ABC, at an altitude of about 6500m, Sergey felt bad. He stopped breathing, heart rate is not detectable, the pupils did not react to light. All attempts at resuscitation using oxygen, closed-chest cardiac massage and artificial respiration, which lasted about 30 minutes, did not lead to success.

Early this morning, May 6, the body with porters was sent to the Base Camp of Mount Everest, for onward transportation to Kathmandu.

The whole team is mourning the sudden loss of a comrade ...

Alex Abramov