A hike in the mountains of Almaty nearly ended in tragedy for a foreign national and two of his friends, who became so cold they could not make it back down on their own and had to be rescued, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, staff helped the young people in the Bostandyk district of Almaty, near the Cosmostation, after hypothermia left them unable to continue their descent from the mountains.
“While patrolling on special equipment, rescuers found a group of young people. Among them was a Bangladeshi national born in 2006, along with two of his friends born in 2007 and 2010,” the Ministry of Emergency Situations said.
A second incident occurred in the Medeu district of Almaty, near the Skalisty peak at an altitude of 3,332 meters. There, rescuers from the Monitoring and Rapid Response Center came to the aid of a Russian national born in 1985.
According to the ministry, the man set out for the mountains in the morning but strayed from the hiking trail during his walk and was unable to continue his descent on his own. Rescuers located the tourist and safely escorted him to the Edelweiss tourist base. He did not require medical assistance and headed home on his own after the descent.