Russian climbers die in Nepal

Five people were reportedly killed when their ropes failed on Mount Dhaulagiri

Five Russian climbers have died while trying to reach the summit of Mount Dhaulagiri in Nepal, according to local media and Moscow’s embassy in the country.

The group was led by professional mountaineer Aleksandr Dusheiko, and went missing last Sunday. A helicopter located the bodies at an altitude of 7,100 meters, where they had apparently fallen 500 meters, Mingma Sherpa, director of the airlift company Heli Everest, told the Himalayan Times.

A sixth member of the rope team, Valeriy Shamalo, abandoned his attempt early and returned to a base camp, from which he was rescued and brought to Kathmandu.

The Russian embassy in Nepal said it had been in contact with the rescue authorities and had been informed of the deaths of the Russian nationals.

According to climber Anna Piunova, Shamalo spent three nights at a camp located over the 7,000-meter mark, before walking down to the camp at an elevation of 6,100 meters. He is now recovering in hospital, she added. The five other members of the group apparently died after their rope failed, she said.

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With a height of 8,167 meters, Dhaulagiri is the seventh-highest mountain in the world, and has the distinction of being the tallest mountain fully located within the border of a single nation. It was climbed for the first time in 1960 and has claimed dozens of lives over the decades.