3 rock climbers dead after fall in Washington state, authorities say
Three people died and a fourth was injured while rock climbing in the North Cascades in Washington state, authorities said.
Authorities in Okanogan County said the climbers were believed to be rappelling a steep gulley near North Early Winters Spire when their anchor failed, sending them falling on May 11. The climber who survived was able to go for help.
Rescuers were able to recover the bodies of the victims, the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office said. Authorities responded to the scene at about 11:30 a.m.
Undersheriff David Yarnell of the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office told the New York Times that the fall was about 200 feet down a sheer rock face. He told the newspaper the climbers then skidded another about 200 feet across a snow-covered chute before coming to a stop.
Yarnell said the group decided to turn back from their climb because of changes in the weather, and they were descending when they fell. The survivor hiked back to a car and drove 60 miles to Newhalem, where he called for help on a pay phone, Yarnell told the Times.
In an update on May 13, the sheriff's office identified the three victims as Vishnu Irigireddy, 48; Tim Nguyen, 63; and Oleksander Martynenko, 36. Both Irigireddy and Nguyen were from Renton, while Martynenko was from Bellevue, which are both suburbs of Seattle more than 100 miles from the Early Winters Spires.
The lone survivor was identified as Anton Tselykh, 38, of Seattle, according to the sheriff's office.
"This terrible climbing incident has brought global attention to the climbing world," the sheriff's office said in a statement on Facebook. "Please respect the feelings of all those affected by this tragedy at the North Early Winters Spire."
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver and Thao Nguyen, Paste BN