Bad weather hampers search for Lithuanian climber missing in Kyrgyzstan

Search and rescue efforts for Lithuanian climber Sergejus Rubcovas and two Belarusian climbers missing in Kyrgyzstan are being delayed by strong winds, Rubcovas’s brother Arturas told LRT.

A drone is already at the location but cannot take off, while a helicopter is expected the following day. A team of people is also being assembled to carry out the rescue because the route is technically difficult, Arturas Rubcovas said.

The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry told LRT that, in cooperation with local telecommunications companies, authorities had identified the missing Lithuanian’s last known location. The Lithuanian Embassy in Kazakhstan and Lithuania’s honorary consul in Kyrgyzstan are working with Kyrgyz institutions, including rescue services, and maintaining contact with the climber’s relatives.

The group travelled to Kyrgyzstan’s Osh region in the second half of July and reached the start of its route in the Kyzylsu River gorge. Their satellite phone failed to connect, so they had only intermittent contact through a Chinese mobile operator.

On August 1, the climbers reached the 6,613-metre Kurumdy summit via its northern ridge. The following day, they said they would be ready to leave on August 4. A driver went twice to the agreed meeting point, but the group did not return from the route, prompting a search operation.

The missing group consists of 37-year-old Lithuanian citizen Sergejus Rubcovas, 43-year-old Maksim Palianski and 60-year-old Mikalaj Sviridov, both from Belarus. There has been no contact with them since August 2.

Rubcovas’s family is asking for public assistance, saying the search and rescue operation requires additional resources. Walking across the glacier is impossible when storms threaten, while slopes above 5,000 metres cannot be inspected from the ground. A helicopter and people able to work at that altitude are therefore needed, with the climbers’ families paying for the operation.