Five Russian climbers die on Nepal’s Dhaulagiri mountain

Five members of a Russian expedition who went missing while attempting to climb Mount Dhaulagiri have been found dead, Russia’s embassy in Nepal told CNN on Tuesday.

Initial investigations suggested the group of Russian mountaineers died “as a result of falling down a slope,” the embassy said.

Officials added that they were in contact with the other members of the expedition and were assessing the feasibility of retrieving the bodies from the mountain for identification and repatriation.

Dhaulagiri – which translates from Sanskrit to mean “White Mountain” – is the world’s seventh-highest peak, standing 8,167 meters (26,795 ft) above sea level, in the Himalayas in central Nepal. Due to its steep sides and bitterly cold temperatures, it was only scaled for the first time in 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian expedition.

The fatality rate of Dhaulagiri is slightly more than 16%, making it one of the most dangerous mountains to climb. Records show that by spring 2022, 647 persons have stepped on Dhaulagiri I peak.

The Russian Mountaineering Federation told CNN that the trip was organized by a private organization. The climbers, an experienced group had set off in early September. The team had been following a traditional method of ascending called “siege” climbing, which saw them split into smaller teams, taking turns to push ahead and set up temporary camps throughout the expedition.

Contact was lost with five members of the group after they departed for the peak’s summit on Sunday October 6, according to the federation’s statement. A sixth climber was supposed to join them but abandoned the attempt due to poor health.

The federation expressed its condolences to the family and friends of the victims in a statement shared with CNN on Tuesday. It added: “The Ambassador of Nepal to Russia also asked to convey his sincere condolences.”

A spokesperson for the federation also told CNN that the climbers were making their attempt in the “off-season, when the climbing season ends” and that “at this time, the weather conditions are difficult.”

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti shared a photo credited to the Leningrad Region Mountaineering Federation reportedly showing where the bodies had been found. The photo, which a representative of the federation said was taken on Tuesday from a helicopter, allegedly shows a backpack and bodies on a rocky ledge on the glacier.

“All together, this shows that they were tied together with a safety rope and fell down the slope together,” a representative of the organization told RIA Novosti.

CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.