A 63-year-old Canadian professor collapsed and died from a heart attack on Friday as he was making his descent from a base camp on Mount Everest, government officials and CBC television said. Sean Egan -- trying to become the oldest Canadian to climb Everest -- had been suffering from respiratory problems, CBC quoted a statement from an expedition spokesman as saying. A spokeswoman for the Canadian foreign ministry confirmed Egan's death but gave no further details. Around 185 climbers have died on the slopes of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain. CBC said Egan had been trying to move to a lower altitude to make breathing easier. Egan, a professor of human kinetics at the University of Ottawa, was a self-confessed fitness fanatic, CBC said. It was his third expedition to Everest but the first time he had tried to climb to the summit. --SP 2302 Local Time 2002 GMT
