The remains of mountaineers who died on the world's highest peak are being exposed as its ice melts.
Expedition operators are concerned at the number of climbers' bodies that are becoming exposed on Mount Everest as its glaciers melt.
Nearly 300 mountaineers have died on the peak since the first ascent attempt and two-thirds of bodies are thought still to be buried in the snow and ice.
Bodies are being removed on the Chinese side of the mountain, to the north, as the spring climbing season starts.
More than 4,800 climbers have scaled the highest peak on Earth.
"Because of global warming, the ice sheet and glaciers are fast melting and the dead bodies that remained buried all these years are now becoming exposed," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association.
"We have brought down dead bodies of some mountaineers who died in recent years, but the old ones that remained buried are now coming out."
Officials with the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal (EOAN) said they were bringing down all ropes from the higher camps of Everest and Lhotse mountains this climbing season, but dealing with dead bodies was not as easy.
They point at Nepal's law that requires government agencies' involvement when dealing with bodies and said that was a challenge.
"This issue needs to be prioritised by both the government and the mountaineering industry," said Dambar Parajuli, president of EOAN.
"If they can do it on the Tibet side of Everest, we can do it here as well."
