Sarajevo: Five climbers from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have died on Russia's Mount Elbrus, Europe's highest peak, the BiH mountaineering club Vedro, to which the deceased climbers belonged, confirmed on Sunday.
"With great sorrow and pain, we inform the public of the tragic loss of five of our friends, colleagues, and association members, who perished while doing what they loved most, during an expedition on Elbrus," Vedro said in a statement.
Nermin Niksic, prime minister of the Federation of BiH, offered his condolences to the families of the victims on Sunday. He pledged that every effort will be made to ensure the repatriation of the climbers' remains and announced that the federation government will declare a national day of mourning on Monday.
The incident occurred on the Saturday evening, when a group of seven people from BiH became stranded on the mountain, located in Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria region. One of the climbers managed to descend on his own and sent a distress signal to rescue services, triggering an emergency response.
A local rescue team of eight members was immediately dispatched to the area. Rescuers subsequently located one additional survivor, while the remaining five members of the expedition were confirmed dead.
Russian authorities said that rescue teams have so far recovered two bodies, and that search operations are continuing despite challenging weather conditions at high altitude.
