A rescue team has located five Ukrainian rock climbers in the Caucasian Mountains after their group leader died in a climbing accident on Sept. 17.
The group of alpinists from Kharkiv started the climb up the Kazbek Mountain in the North Ossetia on Sept. 10 and planned to reach the peak at some 5,033 meters by Sept. 27. Their leader, Ihor Logvynenko, has been found dead by Georgian alpinists, according to Georgian TV channel Rustavi 2, hanging on a rope.
“There’s a lot of blood around the alpinist. It looks like he hit the rocks and died,” said climber Levan Berdzenishvili.
The rest of the crew is being taken down by North Ossetian rescuers that have caught up with the climbers at some 4,000 meters despite fog and generally bad weather conditions. The emergency ministry of North Ossetia reported that they hope to finish the rescue operation by the end of Sept. 19.
