Kathmandu, May 23 (EFE).- A renowned Kenyan climber was found dead a few meters below the summit of Mt. Everest, while two Sherpa guides and a British climber have gone missing on the world's highest peak, base camp officials said on Thursday.

"Kenyan climber Cheruiyot Kirui was found dead just below the summit on Thursday morning. His Sherpa guide, however, has gone missing," Khim Lal Gautam, the Everest base camp coordinator, told EFE.

Cheruiyot, who worked in Kenya Commercial Bank, ascended from the base camp on May 17 without supplemental oxygen.The duo had been out of contact since late Tuesday (May 21).

"A four-member search and rescue team found the bodies of a Kenyan climber. We have no news of his Sherpa guide whereabouts," said Gautam. "The search is ongoing."

With this, the death toll on Everest has reached three - all of them climbed Everest without using supplemental oxygen.

The bodies of two Mongolian climbers were found on May 17, four days after they went missing.

Gautam said that British climber Daniel Paul Paterson and his Sherpa guide have been missing in the death zone.

The duo were returning after reaching the summit on May 21. Officials say that hopes of finding survivors are slim.

More than 550 individuals, including climbers and Sherpa guides, have successfully reached the summit as of Thursday, according to Gautam.

The climbing season, which started on May 10, is expected to close by May 29.

Nearly 8,800 mountaineers have climbed Everest from the Nepal side since Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and New Zealander Edmund Hillary first set foot atop the world's highest peak in 1953. EFE

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