Two Ukrainian climbers die in Slovakia's High Tatra Mountains

Two Ukrainian climbers, a man, and a woman fell to their deaths in Slovakia's High Tatra Mountains amid poor visibility in a snowstorm, rescuers said on Friday. Slovakia's Mountain Rescue Service (HZS) said its rescuers "found two bodies" late Thursday after a group of 11 Ukrainian climbers reported two missing people near Lomnicky Peak, according to a statement.

"Both Ukrainian climbers, a managed 67 and a woman aged 30, suffered fatal injuries," it said, adding that the rescue effort took place in difficult weather, with poor visibility due to falling snow and darkness. Ukraine's mountain climbing federation said on Friday that the deaths occurred "on the descent from the (climbing) route as a result of a terrible accident", without going into detail.

Kyiv's "Vertical" mountaineering club identified the climbers as Volodymyr Mykhalko and Iryna Skrylyova on its Facebook page. Slovakia's HZS mountain rescue service said it had moved the bodies to a morgue in Novy Smokovec, a town in the High Tatra foothills in northern Slovakia, near the Polish border.

Lomnicky Peak at 2,634 meters (8,600 feet) is one of the highest and most popular climbing destinations in the High Tatras. The Czech CTK news agency reported that more people have died in Slovakia's mountains so far this year than in 2018 when 32 people lost their lives there. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)