Man, 49, Dies Trying to Help Friend Trapped on 25,000-Foot Peak with Broken Leg: ‘He Would Never Have Left Anyone Behind’

An Italian climber has died on a Kyrgyzstan mountain after attempting to rescue a fellow mountaineer who was trapped near the summit with a broken leg.

According to The Times and the Daily Mail, 49-year-old Luca Sinigaglia of Milan passed away on Aug. 15 from prolonged exposure to extreme conditions — including low oxygen and hypothermia — while climbing Pobeda Peak, also known as Victory Peak or Jengish Chokusu. The mountain rises to 24,406 feet in the Tian Shan range, straddling Kyrgyzstan’s border with China.

Sinigaglia had made multiple attempts to summit the peak to deliver vital supplies such as a tent, food, water, and a sleeping bag to his friend, Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsyna, 47. She had fallen and broken her leg on Aug. 12.

Reports state that Sinigaglia died before reaching her location, collapsing roughly 2,000 feet below where she was stranded. His body was later found in an ice cave, where he had succumbed to exhaustion. Doctors believe he died from cerebral edema, a swelling of the brain caused by fluid buildup, according to The Times.

“He carried out an act of great courage. He would never have left anyone behind, and especially not Natalia, with whom he had survived an experience that made them very close,” said Sinigaglia’s sister, Patrizia, per The Times. “It was an action to be proud of that unfortunately did not allow him to return to us. But that was Luca.”

German climber Gunther Siegmund joined him in the rescue attempt but was later able to descend to safety, the outlet reported.

Rescue operations have been ongoing for nearly two weeks, led by multiple agencies including the Russian Mountaineering Federation and Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, according to The Times and CNN.

CNN noted that a surveillance drone last spotted Nagovitsyna on Aug. 19, alive on a ridge close to the summit. Officials have not confirmed her current status.

The Daily Mail reported that a final rescue attempt on Aug. 23 was abandoned 3,600 feet below her location due to worsening weather. Earlier, a helicopter from Kyrgyzstan’s Defense Ministry crashed during another attempt, and experts now fear she may not survive in sub-zero temperatures and violent winds.

Alexander Pyatnitsyn, vice president of the Russian Mountaineering Federation, told The Times that saving her would be “almost impossible,” though three Italian rescuers are reportedly preparing to charter a private helicopter to try again.

“There’s a three-kilometer-long ridge, and it takes at least 30 people in such a situation to rescue a person from there,” Pyatnitsyn said.

Sinigaglia and Nagovitsyna first met in 2021 while climbing Khan Tengri, another peak in the Tian Shan. At that time, he helped her and her husband, Sergei, descend safely, though Sergei later suffered a stroke and died.

“After that, they spoke often, agreeing every so often to meet up on some mountain around the world,” Sinigaglia’s sister recalled. She remembered her brother as someone who would never abandon a friend.

“He has performed an act of great courage,” she told Italian outlet Ansa. “We can hold on to this knowledge. He would never have left anyone behind.”