Bodies of five Russians missing in Dhaulagiri located

KATHMANDU: Bodies of five Russian climbers, who went missing on Sunday night during their attempt to summit Mt. Dhaulagiri, have been located.

According to Pemba Zangbu Sherpa of I Am Trekking & Expedition – the handling agency of the expedition, the bodies were located at an altitude of 7,100 meters by a rescue helicopter.

“Fellow Russian climber Danis, who successfully climbed Mt Dhaulagiri a few days ago, conducted the heli search and located five bodies at an altitude of 7,100 meters,” Sherpa said. “They were climbing the mountain alpine style without a fixed rope. They were all connected to one main rope. We assume that one of them fell while traversing a difficult section at around 7,600 meters and dragged the other four down.”

The five – Alexander Dusheyko, Oleg Kruglov, Vladimir Chistikov, Mikhail Nosenko and Dmitrii Shpilevoi – were the climbing members of the second team of the 14-member Russian expedition. “The first team has already left for Russia after their failed summit bid,” Sherpa added.

According to Sherpa, other members of the expedition are in touch with their insurer to bring the bodies back.