Nine Climbers Die on Russian Volcano

Several climbers died during an ascent of Klyuchevskaya Sopka in the northeastern Kamchatka region of Russia. Of the 12 climbers in the group, nine lost their lives. Five died immediately in a fall and the others from injuries or hypothermia.

There’s no information on what caused the accident, but one of the surviving guides, Ivan Alabugin, who was rescued with severe frostbite, gave some details about what took place. During the ascent, clients Anastasia Usacheva and Roman Averin were feeling ill, so Alabugin descended with them to a hut at 3,300 metres. He later got a message from fellow guide, Andrey Mishchenko, saying there’d been an accident.

Alabugin left the hut alone and climbed to the accident scene with a tent, first aid supplies and sleeping bags. He reached the survivors after hours of climbing, and administered first aid. Sadly, all of the injured climbers died with the last being Mishchenko, whose broken leg prevented him from moving.

Eight search and rescue technicians were flown to near the accident scene where they found three survivors in the hut. More information here.