A desperate last-ditch attempt to rescue a female mountaineer trapped 22,965 feet up a mountain with a broken leg has been abandoned.
Russian mountaineer Natalia Nagovitsina, 47, has been marooned for ten days in severe weather on Victory Peak in Kyrgyzstan.
The well-known climber was seen moving on drone footage as recently as three days ago, after she had been missing for a week, according to local reports.
Since then, temperatures have sunk to -23C. A sleeping bag had been delivered to her by Italian climber Luca Sinigaglia, 49, who also brought a tent, food, water and a gas cooker.
But repeated efforts to bring her down failed, both by climbing and using a helicopter.
And tragedy hit when climber Sinigaglia died on the mountain from prolonged exposure to low oxygen and hypothermia.
Today, a final effort to climb to her was abandoned just 3,600ft below where she is stuck, with the weather set to worsen, as the team were ordered to return to base camp.
Earlier, a defence ministry Mi-8 helicopter crashed as it sought to rescue her. Another helicopter, a Mi-17VM, was sent, but zero visibility again forced rescuers back.
Dmitry Grekov, rescue leader and head of base camp, said today that experienced mountaineer Vitaly Akimov had led a team seeking to climb to Nagovitsina, but he started suffering back pain from the helicopter crash, and the mission was abandoned.
Asked if she was still alive, Grekov admitted he did not know but said: ‘I think not, because she has been there since August 12 – count how much time has passed….
‘It is unrealistic. It is unrealistic to survive at such an altitude.’
The Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed the rescue mission had been called off.
Nagovitsina gained fame four years ago when she refused orders to leave her husband, who had suffered a stroke at 22,638ft.
She survived by a miracle after comforting him on the mountain, but was unable to save him.
In 2021, her radio conversion with base camp went viral as she refused to leave husband Sergei Nogovitsin at a similar altitude – 22,638ft – who suffered a debilitating stroke during an ascent of Khan Tengri close to the border of Khan Tengri, close to the borders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.
‘He can’t sit up, falls on his side, his speech is confused,’ she told rescuers.
‘Natasha, you need to go down yourself. You won’t be able to help him in any way. Do you understand me? Over,’ the base camp said.
She replied: ‘I understand everything, but I will not leave him alone. I won’t leave my husband; he’s completely helpless, I’m giving him something to drink..’
Rescuers eventually reached the pair, and two men tried to move Sergey while she went down. His body was lost and never recovered.
Last year, a British climber and her counterpart were rescued safely after their food and equipment fell down a ravine.
Fay Manners, 37, and her American friend Michelle Dvorak, 31, were missing after they got into difficulty climbing Chaukhamba Mountain in India.
They both sent messages to base camp saying they were in trouble, and two helicopters were sent up immediately.
The rescue mission in the Himalayas was quickly stopped due to weather conditions, but the search was able to resume, and local media reported the operation was a success after 80 hours.
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