MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia on Sunday said it had found the bodies of five foreign climbers -- believed to be Bosnian -- on Mount Elbrus, authorities and state media said. Earlier, authorities said that out of a group of seven climbing Russia’s highest mountain, they had recovered two bodies and were searching for three more. “According to investigators, on July 24, a group of seven climbers -- foreign nationals -- was climbing Mount Elbrus. The following evening, due to rapidly deteriorating weather conditions, the group strayed from the route,” the local prosecutor’s office said. It said one of the alpinists went down and told authorities that “two members of the group had fallen ill at an altitude of 5,100 metres and died.” The statement added: “Subsequently, rescuers found another surviving climber and the bodies of three other climbers who had died.” Bosnia’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic confirmed reports of the deaths, which he called “a major tragedy.”
