Search efforts are continuing in the mountains of Almaty for a foreign national born in 1953 who set off on September 28 to descend from Shymbulak on his own and never returned to his hotel. The search and rescue operation involves about 50 people, a helicopter and seven drones, the website infohub.kz reports.
The search is focused on the area of the Talgar Pass at an altitude of about 3,200 meters. According to the ministry, the man rode the Shymbulak cable car up with a group and then told his colleagues he would continue the route alone and descend to the city without a guide.
A report of his disappearance came in to the 112 emergency line on September 29. The same day, the Ministry of Emergency Situations launched search and rescue operations. Almaty's Department of Emergency Situations set up an operations center.
The search involves Emergency Situations Ministry personnel, staff from the city's Monitoring and Rapid Response Center, rescuers from the Barys Republican Rescue Service, police officers, canine teams and DDS volunteers. In total, eight vehicles, seven unmanned aerial vehicles, three canine teams and a Kazaviaspas helicopter are being used.
The helicopter crew surveyed mountain routes in the area of Left Talgar, the Bogdanovich Glacier and adjacent gorges toward the peaks and passes. Ground teams, supported by drones, are checking hard-to-reach areas and mountain trails.
Rescuers are also continuing to review surveillance camera footage and interview tourists who were in the search area.
The work is being carried out around the clock, given the difficult terrain, the altitude and the inaccessibility of certain sections.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that in the Ayusai gorge in the mountains of Almaty, after more than a day of searching, a boy born in 2015 who went missing during a walk with his parents was found. He was discovered above the waterfall at an altitude of about 2,000 meters and handed over to his family. About 160 people took part in the search operation.