Group of Russian climbers found dead in Nepal
The bodies of five Russian climbers were discovered during an aerial search of Mount Dhaulagiri in Nepal, a spokeswoman for the Russian mountaineering community said on her Facebook, TASS reported.
According to Anna Piunova, the group consisted of six people. One of the climbers earlier began to feel symptoms of altitude sickness and was forced to descend to a lower camp.
"Today in the morning a helicopter flew over the area. Valery Shamalo was evacuated from camp [at an altitude of] 6,100 [meters] to a hospital. The others were found. They all died after their rope broke, and they fell," the spokeswoman said.
Later, the Russian news agency reported that the Embassy in Nepal has received information about the death of five Russian climbers on Dhaulagiri mountain. On the morning of October 6, they left the camp to climb, and after that contact with them was lost. TASS revealed the circumstances of the tragedy.
Circumstances of the incident
- A group of climbers left the camp to climb on October 6 at about six in the morning. This was reported by the managing director of the company IAM Trekking & Expedition, Pemba Jangbu Sherpa, who organized the expedition.
- The last time they kept in touch was the same day at about eleven in the morning. After that, contact with them was lost.
- According to Anna Piunova, a representative of the Russian alpinist community, there were six people in the group. Earlier, one of them felt sick and descended to a camp located below.
- According to Nepalese side, the missing climbers are Alexander Dusheiko, Oleg Kruglov, Vladimir Chistikov, Mikhail Nosenko and Dmitriy Shpilevoy.
- Another member of the group, Valery Shamalo, who refused to attempt to conquer the peak, was evacuated from the camp and taken to Kathmandu.
- In the morning, a helicopter took off to conduct the search effort. The bodies of five climbers were found, the representative office of the IAM Trekking & Expedition company reported.
- They added that, according to preliminary data, the cause of death was a fall from a great height.
- The Embassy of Russia in Nepal confirmed receiving information about the death of climbers. Diplomats are keeping in touch with the search effort’s coordinators and the country’s authorities.
About the mountain
- Dhaulagiri mountain is located in the Himalayas and has several peaks.
- The tallest, Dhaulagiri I, reaches an elevation of 8,167 meters and is the world’s seventh highest mountain.
Previous incidents
- Last year, a famous Russian climber, Nadezhda Oleneva, died while conquering Dhaulagiri.