Relatives confirm identities of climbers killed in Kyrgyzstan

Relatives have confirmed the identities of two climbers who died on Korumdu summit in Kyrgyzstan, LRT reports, citing the Kyrgyz news portal 24.kg.

The Osh Region Interior Department said the dead were 43-year-old Belarusian citizen Maksim Polianski and 37-year-old Lithuanian citizen Sergei Rubtsov.

LRT contacted Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry to ask whether it could confirm the information. The ministry’s response had not been received at the time of publication.

Their bodies are currently at a morgue in Osh and are expected to be repatriated to their home countries. The third member of the group, 60-year-old Belarusian citizen Nikolai Sviridov, has not been found.

Polianski, Sviridov and Rubtsov successfully climbed Korumdu summit on August 2. The group was due to begin descending to a camp at the foot of the mountain on August 4, but could not be reached at the agreed time.

Kyrgyzstan’s Emergency Situations Ministry and volunteers launched a search operation, which was hampered by poor weather. Heavy snowfall and low visibility were reported in the search area.

Korumdu summit lies east of Lenin Peak in the Chon Alay mountain range, near the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China. The range has narrow ridges, steep rocky peaks and glaciers descending along steep slopes.

Several international expeditions attempted to climb the summit before 2001 without success. Official records say a Kyrgyz team led by Alexander Gubayev made the first ascent on October 12, 2001, via the northern ridge at an altitude of 6,096 metres. Climbing Korumdu is considered extremely difficult.