The rescue mission to save 47-year-old Natalia Nagovitsina has been called off after one fellow climber died from frostbite and a military helicopter later crashed into the side of Victory Peak
Rescuers who abandoned a desperate search for a woman stuck 22,000ft up a mountain with a broken leg say ‘no signs of life’ have been found.
Natalia Nagovitsina, 47, has been left stranded on Victory Peak in Kyrgyzstan with limited supplies of food and water since August 12, during which time overnight temperatures on the peak have dropped to biting lows of -23C.
Last night, authorities confirmed they had called off their efforts to find the Russian climber. It comes after a torrid mountain rescue mission which began with another climber dying of frostbite, and later saw a defence ministry helicopter crash into the side of mountain, forcing emergency workers to turn back.
Ms Nagovitsina’s partner, who was with her on the hike, was the first to help when he gave her emergency first aid on the mountain, and left the scene to seek help.
German climber Gunther Sigmund and Italian Luca Sinigaglia stayed around to offer her support, but Luca soon developed frostbite. His condition rapidly deteriorated, and he died at an altitude of 22,637ft.
Tributes paid on social media by his friends praised the 49-year-old from Milan as a “hero”.
Last Sunday, a defence ministry Mi-8 helicopter crashed while attempting to rescue her.
Another helicopter, a Mi-17VM, was later dispatched, but poor visibility forced rescuers to turn back once again.
Dmitry Grekov, rescue leader and head of base camp, said experienced mountaineer Vitaly Akimov had led a team seeking to climb to Ms Nagovitsina’s location, but started suffering back pain from the helicopter crash, forcing the trip to be abandoned.
Hopes were raised on Tuesday when a drone found Natalia alive in a “damaged tent” at an altitude of 7,200 metres (23,622ft).
A statement from the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry said: “She is alive and has been in the mountains for seven days. Preparations are being made for her rescue and transportation.”
But heavy snowfall hampered any further efforts of a rescue, and local media reported that no “signs of life” have been detected on the mountain since.
On Friday, the Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed the rescue mission had been called off.
Dmitry Grekov, the head of the mountaineering base camp, said: “Not a single person has been evacuated from there since 1955.”
Natalia, an experienced climber, made the headlines four years ago when she refused orders to leave her husband who had suffered a stroke at 22,638ft.
She survived against the odds after sticking with him on on a different mountain in Kyrgyzstan, but was unable to save his life.
It follows the deaths of two other Russian climbers in Kyrgyzstan this month.
Team captain Nikolai Totmyanin died in Bishkek on August 11 after scaling Victory Peak, while fellow countryman Alexei Yermakov died on the Khan-Tengri Peak at an altitude of 19,028ft on August 16.