Scaling of Eurasia’s tallest active volcano results in multiple casualties
Five people have been killed in an attempt to climb Eurasia’s tallest active volcano, the Klyuchevskaya Sopka, at Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East, the federal investigative committee has said.
The incident occurred on Saturday, when a group of dozen tourists was at an altitude of around 4,150 meters, according to the statement by the agency.
“According to preliminary data, five people have died after falling from great height,” the investigative committee said, adding that another person has been severely injured and remains unconscious.
One of the guides who accompanied the tourists also fractured his leg, with his colleague calling for help via a satellite phone, the statement read.
The investigative committee announced that it has launched a criminal case on inflicting death by negligence over the incident.
The emergency ministry said that it has sent its rescuers to the Klyuchevskaya Sopka. With the altitude being too high for the helicopter to reach, they would have to walk to the site of the accident by foot from 3,300 meters.
The tourists in the ill-fated group had arrived from different parts of Russia, including the capital, Moscow, their climb being organized by a firm from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk.
At 4,649 meters in height, Klyuchevskaya Sopka is the tallest active volcano in Eurasia. It’s located on the Kamchatka Peninsula, a remote yet picturesque area in Russia’s Far East that hosts more than a hundred volcanoes, including 29 active ones.
