Four bodies, including that of a woman, have been found by Nepali Sherpas on Wednesday, 24 May, in a camp on Mount Everest.

With the latest discovery, the death toll on the Nepalese side of the world's highest mountain has gone up to nine in the past month, the base camp officials said.

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The officials added that the four bodies – two Nepalis and two foreigners – were found by the Sherpas at camp IV – located at 8,000 metres (26,246 feet) – on Tuesday night when they were searching for the body of another mountaineer, Vladimir Strba of Slovakia, who died near the 8,850 metres (29,035 feet) summit during the weekend.

The Sherpas were unable to say how the four climbers died. Officials are yet to identify the bodies.

The Himalayan Times reported quoting sources at the base camp that contact with the four climbers, sponsored by a new trekking company, was lost on Sunday when they were last seen near the Balcony area.

"We are trying to verify all shreds of evidence before naming the victims," a liaison officer at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, said it was windy on the mountain on Tuesday, which might have created problems for the climbers.

The discovery came two days after four other climbers died in a weekend of tragedy on the world's highest peak. The deceased individuals were, apart from Strba, Roland Yearwood from the US, Francesco Enrico Marchetti from Australia and Ravi Kumar from India.

The Sherpas who discovered the latest dead bodies also brought the body of Strba to Camp II at 6,400 metres (21,000 feet). His body was expected to be brought down to base camp later on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

This year the Nepalese Tourism Department has issued a record 371 permits to people who want to climb the Everest. It is feared this could lead to dangerous "traffic jams" on the mountain.

The rise in number of climbers this year can be attributed to the fact that many could not make the attempt in the past two years following an avalanche that killed 16 Nepali guides in 2014 and the devastating 2015 earthquakes that prompted another avalanche, killing 18.