KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Two foreign climbers attempting to scale Mount Everest have died on the world's highest peak, a Nepal mountaineering official said Monday. 
 
 Members of their expedition teams reported a Japanese climber died Monday and a Macedonian died on Sunday, said Gyanendra Shrestha, who is stationed at Everest's base camp during the climbing season and received the reports of the deaths. 
 
 The Japanese climber was identified as 35-year-old Nobukazu Kuriki and the Macedonian was 63-year-old Gjeorgi Petkov. 
 
 Kuriki was a known mountaineer who climbed many mountains and made several attempts on Everest. He was not successful in climbing Everest and lost most of his fingers due to frostbite during an attempt in 2012. 
 
 Shrestha said Kuriki's body was around the Camp 2 area while the Macedonian climber's body was at a higher elevation. 
 
 Further details were not available. 
 
 Some 340 foreign climbers and their Sherpa guides are attempting to scale Everest this month and many succeeded in the past week during good weather. Teams have to end their attempts by the end of this month as weather conditions deteriorate. ||||| Famed Japanese alpinist Nobukazu Kuriki died Monday during his eighth attempt to summit Mount Everest, officials said. 
 
 Kuriki, 35, died in the morning near Camp II of the mountain at an altitude of 6,400 meters, Tourism Ministry official Gyanendra Shrestha said from Everest Base Camp. 
 
 Tika Ram Gurung of Bochi-Bochi Trek in Kathmandu, which organized Kuriki’s expedition, said Kuriki was descending from 7,400 meters when he slipped and died. 
 
 It is unlikely Kuriki made the summit. A team member wrote on Kuriki’s Line blog that the climber began to feel ill around the 7,400-meter mark and started to descend. 
 
 “We have carried down Kuriki’s body to base camp and are waiting for officials’ clearance to send the body by helicopter to Kathmandu,” he said. 
 
 Born in Hokkaido, Kuriki climbed the highest peaks of six continents, falling one short of entering the elite club of climbers who have scaled the highest summits on all seven continents. 
 
 He lost nine fingers to frostbite while attempting to climb Mount Everest in 2012. 
 
 In 2015, he tried again to scale the peak during the autumn climbing season, just months after a series of devastating quakes killed nearly 9,000 people in Nepal and halted expeditions on the mountain. 
 
 Back then, he said his attempt was aimed at spreading the message that Nepal is safe for tourism. 
 
 Kuriki was among 346 climbers with permits to climb Mount Everest from the Nepal side this season.
– Two foreign climbers attempting to scale Mount Everest have died on the world's highest peak, a Nepal mountaineering official said Monday. Members of their expedition teams reported a Japanese climber died Monday and a Macedonian died on Sunday, said Gyanendra Shrestha, who is stationed at Everest's base camp during the climbing season and received the reports of the deaths. The Japanese climber was identified as 35-year-old Nobukazu Kuriki and the Macedonian was 63-year-old Gjeorgi Petkov, the AP reports. Kuriki was a known mountaineer who climbed many mountains and made what Kyodo reports was seven previous attempts to summit Everest. He had not been successful and lost all but one of his fingers due to frostbite during an attempt in 2012. Shrestha said Kuriki's body was around the Camp 2 area while the Macedonian climber's body was at a higher elevation. Further details were not available. Some 340 foreign climbers and their Sherpa guides are attempting to scale Everest this month and many succeeded in the past week during good weather. Teams have to end their attempts by the end of this month as weather conditions deteriorate. (A man who lost both feet to frostbite in a 1975 attempt made it to the summit last week.)