Hong Kong-based mountaineer scales Everest and Lhotse peaks within 24 hours
Paul Niel conquers Everest and Lhotse within a day but his feat is shadowed by the death of a fellow climber
Sixty years to the day since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquered Mount Everest, a Hong Kong-based mountaineer has repeated the feat but it was overshadowed by tragedy.
Austrian-born Paul Niel and his team set off on a nine-week long expedition to scale the highest mountain in the world.
A week ago he successfully reached the top of the 8,848-metre Everest and just for good measure he then scaled the nearby Lhotse, which is the world's fourth tallest mountain at 8,516 metres.
Niel's achievements do not end here though as he also became only the ninth person to reach the summit of both Everest and Lhotse within 24 hours.
However, the first attempt on the summit on May 17 almost ended in disaster - a surprise storm during the night generated strong winds and low temperatures. Niel turned back after getting more than half way to the summit. Several other climbers who continued lost fingers and toes to frostbite.
One of the Sherpas died after suffering a heart attack.
While on the descent from Lhotse a Taiwanese climber died from a cerebral oedema.