Three Russian mountaineers died in Kyrgyzstan during an ascent of Lenin Peak, a 7,134-meter-high summit in the Pamirs, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday, citing spokespeople for the Kyrgyz army's General Staff.
The circumstances of the mountaineers' deaths were not made public.
The report stated that the bodies of the mountaineers were being collected Tuesday by helicopters sent to the summit by Kyrgyz armed forces, along with the body of a Polish climber who died crossing one of the rivers in the same area on July 29.
Attempts to conquer Lenin Peak have ended in tragedy several times since the first ascent in 1928, RIA reported. In 1968 four paratroopers died attempting a landing on the summit. In 1974 a team of eight Soviet female mountaineers got caught in a hurricane at an altitude of 7,000 meters and froze to death. In 1990 an avalanche killed 45 climbers from around the world at a base camp 5,300 meters in altitude.
Since the beginning of the year, Kyrgyz armed forces have evacuated the bodies of eight mountaineers from mountainous areas around the country, RIA Novosti reported.
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