Seven Russian climbers died and two survived in an avalanche in the Altai mountains in Siberia, emergency officials said on Wednesday.
The avalanche happened in a remote area on the border of Russia and Kazakhstan Monday, but the survivors were able to descend and report the incident on Tuesday, Interfax reported.
The two female survivors are giving a statement to police, the news agency cited the local district’s public safety answering point as saying.
Emergency crews plan to start searching for the bodies of those who died soon, the Republic of Altai branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday.
The mountaineers came from Novosibirsk State University, the local news website ngs.ru reported, citing a person identified as Ilya who said the survivors got in touch with his wife, who was with a different group of climbers.
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