Dutch mountaineer's body recovered from Everest

The body of Dutch mountaineer Eric Arnold was recovered from Mount Everest on Thursday morning. A team led by Eric's friend Arnold Coster brought the body down from 8,000 feet to 6,200 feet where a helicopter could pick the body up and take it the rest of the way. It is unclear when the body will be returned to the Netherlands, RTL Nieuws reports. Eric was climbing Mount Everest with Coster last week. On the way back from the summit Eric suddenly died from the effects of altitude sickness, an acute lack of oxygen in the thin mountain air. The Dutch mountaineer's girlfriend asked Arnold Coster to get his body back to the Netherlands if at all possible. While mountaineers bodies are often left behind due to the danger in recovering them, Coster decided to give it a try. It took Coster and a team of locals two days to get to the body and bring it to an altitude where a helicopter could reach it. Coster himself is still struggling with the loss of his climbing companion. "Eric was a friend. We climbed mountains together several times. But also outside that we saw each other to drink beer I have no words for what happened. It is heartbreaking, especially for his girlfriend", Coster said according to RTL. "What makes it even more difficult is that Eric died so suddenly. With altitude sickness you normally see someone slowly deteriorate. That was not the case with Eric. It happened very suddenly, without any signs before hand. We just did not see it coming."