Rescuers begin lowering bodies of climbers killed in Kyrgyzstan mountains

Rescuers in Kyrgyzstan have found the bodies of two missing mountaineers on Kurumdy Peak and begun lowering them from the mountains, LRT reports, citing the independent Belarusian news portal Nasha Niva. The search for a third climber is continuing.

A new phase of the search and rescue operation began on Monday morning, with the recovery and lowering of the bodies. A helicopter transported a group of five mountaineers to a glacier at an altitude of about 4,300 metres, where they set up camp and immediately began working.

By evening, rescuers had found the bodies of two members of the missing group and were preparing them for descent. The location of the third climber was still being determined.

Communication with the camp remains one-way, so detailed information about the operation is not yet available.

Belarusians Maksim Polyansky and Nikolai Sviridov, along with Lithuanian citizen Sergei Rubtsov, had previously reached the summit of Kurumdy in Kyrgyzstan. On August 2, the group reported that it had begun its descent but failed to reach the planned location. A large-scale search operation was then launched. The bodies of the missing climbers were spotted on August 16 during drone footage of the area.