According to the volunteers, a helicopter transported the two bodies to Sary-Tash the previous day. From there, they were taken to the morgue under police escort. The identification procedure is scheduled for August 27.

Alexander Smirnov, head of the search and rescue operation, told reporters that rescuers continue searching for the third member of the group. The search will continue as long as there is «hope of finding him,» he said.

The headquarters has not yet disclosed the names of the mountaineers whose bodies were found. Their identities will be announced after the identification procedure is completed.

Belarusian citizens Maxim Polyansky, 43, and Nikolai Sviridov, 60, along with Sergei Rubtsov, 37, from Lithuania, successfully summited Kurumdy Peak on August 2. The group was scheduled to begin descending to the base camp on August 4, but failed to make contact at the appointed time. The Ministry of Emergency Situations and volunteers launched a search operation. However, adverse weather conditions have made the search more difficult, while valuable time is being lost. Heavy snowfall and poor visibility have been reported in the search area.

Kurumdy Peak is located east of Lenin Peak. It is a mountain summit in the Chon-Alai Range on the border of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China. The mountain massif is characterized by narrow ridges, sharp rocky peaks and glaciers descending along steep slopes.

Before 2001, expeditions from several countries made repeated attempts to climb the peak but were unsuccessful. The first confirmed ascent was made by a Kyrgyz team led by Alexander Gubaev on October 12, 2001. The route followed the northern ridge at an altitude of 6,096 meters.

Climbing Kurumdy Peak is considered an extremely difficult mountaineering route.