By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Rescuers have found the body of a third Russian tourist whose canoeing group went missing in a canyon in northwest China, Russia’s emergencies ministry said Sunday.
Two bodies had been found Saturday. A team of Russian and Chinese rescuers is continuing the search for the remaining three Russian group members, and their two local guides.
A ministry spokesman said: “The body of a Russian tourist was sighted from the air during a Mi-17 helicopter flight. The body has been taken to Hotan.”
The group of six Russians and their guides set off Aug 22 on a canoe trip down the river Yurungkax, in a remote area of Kunlun mountains, one of the longest mountain chains in Asia. The youngest of the group was aged 25, and the oldest, 47.
The group failed to turn up at a designated meeting point Sep 2.
Earlier, China’s Xinhua news agency quoted a local Russian-language interpreter as saying the canoeists might have been swept away by landslides or attacked by bandits who operate in the area.
On Sep 6 the Russian Canoe Federation requested help from the Russian embassy in China to find the missing tourists. Over 1,000 rescuers have been involved in the search.