On World's 7th-Highest Peak, Looks Like 'All 5 Fell Together'

Five mountaineers have lost their lives on the world's 7th-highest peak. The Russian climbers were scaling Nepal's 26,795-foot high Mount Dhaulagiri on Sunday when they apparently slipped and fell, per AFP. Two had reached the summit, while the other three had turned back before reaching their goal. Traveling without Sherpa guides, they fell from about 25,262 feet, Pemba Jangbu Sherpa, who works for a company that provided support to the team, tells Reuters. All five were considered missing until Tuesday, when their bodies were discovered by a rescue helicopter at about 24,934 feet, Pemba notes.

"They might have been tied to the same rope," he says. "One of them could have slipped on the slope and all five fell together." It isn't yet clear if or when the bodies might be recovered, an effort that would take considerable planning and labor, per CBS News. A sixth climber who abandoned the summit attempt due to exhaustion was rescued from the mountain and admitted to a hospital in Kathmandu, Pemba says. Their current condition is unknown. Little is known about the deceased climbers, who ventured out during Nepal's less-busy fall climbing season, when the permit fees are lower. (More Nepal stories.)