Five Russian climbers die in a fall on Mt Dhaulagiri in Nepal

Kathmandu: Five Russian climbers, who went missing on Mt Dhaulagiri, were found dead at an altitude of over 7,000 metres on Tuesday.

According to Mingma Sherpa, vice chairman of Heli Everest, who was involved in the search and rescue operation, the five Russian climbers were aiming to the Summit the world’s seventh highest peak on Sunday during Nepal’s autumn climbing season.

The climbers, identified as Alexander Dusheyko, Oleg Kruglov, Vladimir Chistikov, Mikhail Nosenko, and Dmitrii Shpilevoi, lost contact with the base-camp after departing from the high camp at 6:00 am while attempting to summit.

All of them were heading towards the summit of the 8,167 metre (26,788 ft) peak with the help of a single rope when they went missing, Sherpa told PTI, adding, the bodies were located at an altitude of 7,700 meters by a rescue helicopter.

Rescue work could not be conducted on Monday due to bad weather, Rakesh Gurung, director at Tourism Department of Nepal, said.

Another Russian climber was rescued from the base camp by the helicopter, he added.

There was no clarity as yet about how and when the bodies would be brought down from the high-altitude area.

Meanwhile, Polish tourist Sowinska Agnieszka, 23, died while trekking around the Suryakunda area, the border of Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts situated in Northern Nepal Monday night.

Police said that she died due to altitude sickness.