Belarusian tourists discovered human remains on the Severtsov Glacier during a two-week trek in the mountains of Kazakhstan’s Almaty Region. Rescuers flew to the area to recover the remains, Tengrinews.kz reports.
The incident was described on Facebook by Anastasia Akhmetova, a friend of the Belarusians. According to her, it happened while they were descending from the route on Aug. 16. They sent the coordinates, photographs and video from the site to the 109 emergency service. The author of the post said that the tourists had learned about a body lying on the glacier from reports by Russian tourist groups as early as 2025, and that other groups had also passed the remains this summer.
“Since we are all a little bit into mountaineering and every Almaty resident has acquaintances in the emergency services, it became clear that no one was going to retrieve him from the glacier yet — there was no order. Personally, I believe that leaving remains there is neither Christian, nor Muslim, nor humane at all. This is someone’s son, someone’s father, someone’s brother, and in general, it is not right for bodies to lie in our mountains — tourists come across them. At least two groups have passed the body this summer.
In the tourist reports of a Russian group from 2025, when preparing for the route, the Belarusian tourists had already read that there was a person there and had seen photos. They were sure the body had already been removed from the glacier. My Belarusians encountered a group of three people from St. Petersburg nearby. They said they had taken documents from the backpack to hand them over to the emergency service — whether they did so or not is unknown,” she wrote.
The Almaty Department of Emergency Situations told journalists that it was aware of the situation and was working jointly with the police department.
“We immediately started working on it. In this case, rescuers make decisions collectively; they do not make them alone. There is a database of missing persons, and we take into account whether relatives have contacted the authorities and whether a report has been filed. We are working jointly with police officers. We are now clarifying the course of action. Rescuers are always ready,” the department’s press service said.
Later, the Department of Emergency Situations reported that an aircraft operated by Kazaviaspas of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, carrying rescuers from the Barys Republican Operational Rescue Unit and staff from the Disaster Medicine Center, had flown to the Severtsov Glacier.
The story then took a further turn. In the comments to a news item published on Tengri Almaty’s Instagram account, Kazakhstan resident Nellya Mikheeva recognized in a photograph the backpack of her father, who disappeared in 2007.
“These are my father’s remains. He disappeared in 2007. Thank you to the rescuers and the investigator. Everything has already been confirmed,” she wrote.
In her Stories, she said she had contacted Ministry of Emergency Situations staff, who had brought the body and belongings down from the mountains, as well as the investigator. The latter later called her back and said that an identification document bearing her father’s name had been found in the backpack.
