A mountaineer has died after trying to rescue his friend who was stuck 22,965 feet up a mountain and had suffered a broken leg.
Russian Natalia Nagovitsina has been trapped near to the top of 24,406 ft tall Victory Peak in Kyrgyzstan.
With extreme weather conditions as low as -23C, the 47-year-old has been unable to make it back down for at least 10 days.
Reports suggest that she was last seen via drone footage days ago, moving about on the rock, as her Italian colleague Luca Sinigaglia risked his life delivering her supplies.
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Doing his best to keep her alive, the 49-year-old brought her water and food, as well as a tent and gas cooker.
Sadly, Sinigaglia was said to have collapsed from exhaustion after his body was found and recovered in an ice cave.
His sister Patrizia told The Times that 'he carried out an act of great courage'.
"He would never have left anyone behind, and especially not Natalia, with whom he had survived an experience that made them very close," she said.
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The pair met under tragic circumstances in 2021 on Khan Tengri on the Kazakstan-Kyrgyzstan-China border.
Nagovitsina and her husband, Sergei, were struggling to get down the mountain when he suffered a stroke. Sinigaglia still helped her get off the mountain.
Following her brother's death, Patrizia added that it 'was an action to be proud of that unfortunately did not allow him to return to us'.
"After that they spoke often, agreeing every so often to meet up on some mountain around the world," she said.
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So far, two helicopter rescue missions have failed to get Nagovitsina down, as a decision was made to call off the most recent search.
Dmitry Grekov, rescue leader and head of base camp, said a rescue mission involving a defence ministry helicopter resulted in a crash.
He said that mountaineer and team leader Vitaly Akimov was forced to abandon the mission because he was suffering from back pain after the helicopter incident.
Grekov said 'it is unrealistic' to think that Nagovitsina is still alive, given 'how much time has passed' since 12 August.
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The Russian Mountaineering Federation also said that it would be a 'miracle' if the climber was still alive.
"It will be almost impossible to save her," Alexander Pyatnitsyn, the federation’s vice president, admitted.
"There’s a three-kilometre-long ridge, and it takes at least 30 people in such a situation to rescue a person from there."
Topics: World News, Russia, Extreme Sports
Anish Vij