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Surviving German tourist tells doctors about his friend’s death in mountains

Two tourists from Germany were covered by an avalanche near the Garvash mountain pass in the vicinity of Mount Elbrus

STAVROPOL, southern Russia, July 5 /TASS/. A German tourist who survived the avalanching in the vicinity of Mount Elbrus (the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria) told doctors that his friend had died in the mountains, a source at the republic’s clinical hospital told TASS on Tuesday.

"He knows that his friend is dead. He told us about that. It was his friend," the source said.

The survivor told the doctors that he and his friend had gone into the mountains three days before. An avalanche came down the other day. Rescuers found the surviving German tourist, born 1953, next morning.

"His condition is of medium gravity. He is suffering from chest injuries and his left hand is frost bitten. He is already in hospital. He can walk and talk. We are communicating with him via an interpreter," a hospital employee said.

Earlier, a duty officer at the Elbrus mountain search and rescue department of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations told TASS that the second German tourist who went missing in the vicinity of Mount Elbrus was likely to be dead. "The chances for survival under the avalanche - if he fell into a crack - are extremely low. It is impossible to retrieve the body now but we may be able to do that late in August," the duty officer said.

Two tourists from Germany were covered by an avalanche near the Garvash mountain pass in the vicinity of Mount Elbrus. The rescuers continue searching for the second tourist’s body.