Cleanup crew removes 24,000 pounds of garbage from Mount Everest

A Nepalese government expedition reportedly removed more than 24,000 pounds of garbage and four dead bodies from Mount Everest. 

The items collected during the 45-day project that began April 14 included food wrappers, cans, bottles, empty oxygen cylinders and other waste from the world’s highest peak, the Times of India reported.

{mosads}The waste was flown to the capital Kathmandu in army helicopters from the Everest base camp, according to The Associated Press.

The Nepal Army, the Nepal Mountaineering Association, the tourism ministry and the Everest Pollution Control Organization all took part in the cleanup, the Times of India reported.

The new tally follows news that volunteers hauled away more than three tons of trash and the four bodies during the first two weeks of the effort to clean the mountain.

Officials haven’t been able to estimate how much garbage is on the mountain, AP reports.

According to the Times of India the dead bodies included a Russian mountaineer and a Nepalese climber. The other two have not yet been identified.

This year marks the mountain’s deadliest climbing season on record since 2015, with 11 climbers killed so far, NBC News reported.