Rescuers find “highly likely the bodies of missing climbers” from Belarus and Lithuania

August 17, Pozirk. Rescuers have found what they described as highly likely the bodies of missing climbers who disappeared after ascending Kurumdy Mountain on the border with China, the search and rescue team’s website, kurumdy.by, reported on August 16. The group consisted of two Belarusians and a Lithuanian.

“On the morning of August 16, while flying over the slope, our drone filmed the site of a snow and rock slide. While watching the videos at the base, we found bodies close to the belongings discovered earlier. These are highly likely members of the group,” the post said.

However, it did not say how many bodies could be seen in the footage. The rescuers have informed the families.

“The finds on the slope were roped together: the guys were roped up. This means that the team did not split up, and at the time of the accident they were together and remain together now. No one was there on the slope alone,” the post said.

Rescuers initially discovered the team members’ belongings on August 14.

The rescue mission has been funded by donations totaling €70,000.

Belarusian nationals Mikałaj Svirydaŭ and Maksim Palanski, seasoned climbers aged 60 and 43 and holders of the prestigious “Snow Leopard” (Snezhny Bars) mountaineering title awarded to those who have successfully summited the five 7,000-meter peaks in the former Soviet Union, and Lithuanian Sergejus Rubcovas, 37, reached the summit of Kurumdy Mountain, at 6,613 meters (21,699 feet), on August 1.

The following day, they reported that they were preparing to begin their descent to base camp. After that call, contact with the men was lost, and they failed to reach a designated meeting point on August 4, where a vehicle was waiting for them.

Kurumdy Mountain is situated in the Trans-Alay Range of the Pamir Mountains. Known for its extreme technical difficulty, dangerously loose rock, rotten summit cornices and severe isolation, it has seen very few successful ascents.