While three Nepali and three Chinese climbers became the first to scale Mt. Qomolangma this year in the short pre-monsoon mountaineering season, three Nepali local guides died in an avalanche.

The six climbers reached the 8,848-meter-high summit from China's Tibetan side on April 30 using a system of rope leverages, according to Tam Ding Sherpa, manager of Mountain Experience, Nepal.

The three Sherpas working for commercial expeditions were killed late last month in an icefall on a notoriously difficult stretch of the climb, Nepal's tourism body said in a statement on Monday.

An avalanche at 5,603 meters buried the three Sherpas, and they died under the ice, according to the statement.

"Rescue work was conducted immediately by many climbers on the way but could not find their whereabouts," the statement said.

Nepali Ministry of Tourism said that there are 17 teams trying to scale Mt. Qomolangma from the Nepali side of the mountain this year.

Source: Xinhua