An 85-year-old Nepali who was attempting to scale Mount Everest to regain his title as the oldest person to climb the world's highest peak has died.

Min Bahadur Sherchan died at the base camp on Saturday evening, officials said.

The cause of death is not immediately clear.

The grandfather of 17 and great-grandfather of six first scaled Everest in May 2008, when he was 76, and at the time declared the oldest climber.

His record was broken by then 80-year-old Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura in 2013.

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