Five Russian mountaineers were tragically killed while attempting to climb Nepal’s Dhaulagiri, the world’s seventh-highest mountain. The team lost contact late on October 6, during their summit attempt, and their bodies were discovered two days later by a helicopter rescue team.
Rakesh Gurung, a tourism official from Nepal’s tourism department, confirmed that the five bodies were located at an altitude of 7,600 meters. One climber from the group, who had abandoned the summit attempt, was rescued and taken to a hospital in Kathmandu for treatment.
The climbers were part of a 14-member Russian team, split into two groups for the expedition. Nepal’s climbing season attracts hundreds of international climbers each year, and the country’s mountains, which include eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks, are a major source of revenue.
However, the increasing popularity of the climbing industry has raised concerns about safety, with some fearing that companies may be cutting corners as competition for business intensifies. This autumn, Nepal has issued 763 permits for expeditions on 34 different peaks. Dhaulagiri, first scaled in 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian team, has since been climbed by hundreds of mountaineers.
