Climbers are marking 50 years since Everest was conquered

A 36-year old British climber has died while trying to scale Mount Baruntse, a 7,129-metre Himalayan mountain east of Mount Everest.

Nepal's tourism ministry said that Michael Turner, an information technology consultant from East Park Parade in Northampton, fell on Sunday when the climbing rope to which he was attached snapped.

Mr Turner was a member of a nine-man expedition led by Michael Grocott, a doctor from London.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office in London said: "We can confirm a Briton has died in a fall while climbing in the Himalayas on Sunday.

"He was climbing Mount Baruntse and no further details are available."

It was the first death reported in the Nepal Himalayas this climbing season.

This year a record number of climbers are expected to try to reach the top of Everest to mark the 50th anniversary of the first climb of the world's highest mountain.