Race to save woman stuck 22,000ft up Victory Peak with broken leg and no food

Desperate rescue attempts are underway to save a female climber stuck for a week about 22,965ft up a mountain with a broken leg and no food and little water.

Russian Natalia [Natasha] Nagovitsina, 47, has been marooned for a week. Her partner gave her first aid after an accident on their descent, and went down the mountain to summon help.

Repeated missions to save her have failed because of bad weather on 24,406ft Victory Peak in Kyrgyzstan. The experienced climber is famous because four years ago she refused orders to leave her husband - who had suffered a stroke at 22,638ft.

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She survived by a miracle after comforting him on the mountain, but was unable to save him. An initial attempt to reach Nagovitsina - who was injured on 12 August - failed due to bad weather, though rescuers were able to deliver a sleeping bag.

Worse followed when a defence ministry Mi-8 helicopter carrying six rescuers ran into turbulence and crash-landed on the mountainside, injuring the pilot and one rescuer. Another helicopter, a Mi-17VM, was later sent, but zero visibility again forced rescuers back.

During a rescue attempt an Italian climber died and two more - Russian and German - were injured, according to reports. A fresh attempt to reach and evacuate the marooned mountaineer is expected.

In 2021, her radio conversion with base camp went viral as she refused to leave husband Sergei Nogovitsin at a similar altitude - 22,638ft - who suffered a debilitating stroke during an ascent of Khan Tengri close to the border of Khan Tengri, close to the borders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.

“He can't sit up, falls on his side, his speech is confused,” she told rescuers. “Natasha, you need to go down yourself. You won't be able to help him in any way. Do you understand me? Over.”

She replied: “I understand everything, but I will not leave him alone. Natasha, answer…..Listening…”

“You need to go down, Natasha, the weather is getting worse, it's almost night. I won't leave my husband, he's completely helpless, I'm giving him something to drink.”

“So, your decision is to spend the night next to him? Yes.”

Rescuers eventually reached the pair and two men tried to move Sergey while she went down.

But they could not go far, and secured him with ropes, and left all their warm clothing and food, before cutting a route further down the mountain, to get more help. An account said: “Most likely in delirium….he broke out of ropes and crashed to his death. His body has never been found.”

His body was never found. The account continued: “A year later Natalia once again went to Khan Tengri to install a plaque in memory of her husband. But no one in the new group had any idea what this courageous woman had lived through on that summit a year earlier – a woman who showed the whole world what love and self-sacrifice mean.”