Bodies of 5 Russian climbers who died on Nepal peak have been retrieved

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- The bodies of five Russian mountaineers who died on the world’s seventh-highest peak were retrieved from the mountain Wednesday and flown to Kathmandu.

The bodies were picked up by rescue helicopters from base camp on Wednesday. They were then transported from the airport in Kathmandu to the morgue at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.

The Russians were climbing the 8,167-meter (26,788-foot) high Mount Dhaulagiri during Nepal’s autumn climbing season.

The climbers were reported missing on Oct. 6 and a rescue helicopter spotted their bodies two days later. Bad weather and the location of the bodies made it difficult for rescuers to retrieve the bodies.

Two of the climbers reached the summit, the while other three had turned around without reaching the top before teammates at base camp lost radio contact with them.

The autumn climbing season began last month. Mountains are less crowded and the permit fees are lower than during the more popular spring season.

The deceased climbers have been identified as Alexander Dusheiko, Oleg Kruglov, Vladimir Chistikov, Mikhail Nosenko and Dmitry Shpilevoy.