Five bodies have been recovered from the avalanche site on the Ak-Bashtyg mountain in the Mongun-Taiga district of the Tuva republic where six teenagers went missing, a news report said Wednesday.
The press service for the Tuva administration confirmed the discovery of three bodies at 11:20 a.m. Moscow time, and the other two shortly afterward, Interfax reported.
The seven teenagers were buried by snow after an avalanche occurred while they were skiing in the area on March 3rd. One managed to escape and alert rescue workers of the situation.
The bodies of the deceased — all teenagers who were actively involved in sports — will be delivered to the search-and-rescue operation headquarters, where relatives of the missing teenagers are waiting to identify them.
Doctors and psychologists are also at hand to assist.
The grim discovery comes after search efforts by nearly 300 people saw teams of rescuers and volunteers scour 1,000 square meters of land with snow 5-6 meters deep, Itar-Tass reported. The search was suspended at 1 p.m. Moscow time on Tuesday due to hazardous weather conditions but resumed again Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, President of the Tuva Republic Solban Kara-ool signed an order to issue 100,000 rubles ($3,300) to the victim's families for the time they took off work to search for the missing teens.