Evacuation of Czech tourist's body from Klyuchevsky volcano stopped

The operation on the evacuation of the body of the killed Czech tourist from the Klyuchevsky volcano (Russia's Far East) was stopped because of bad weather.

The visibility on the volcano slope is very low because of a heavy snowstorm, the civil defence and emergencies main department of the Kamchatka region told RIA Novosti.

Rescuers who started the rise on Wednesday reached the height of 2,500 metres and then stopped to wait for better weather conditions.

The rescuers will continue to rise to the height of 4,350 metres to reach the body of Miloslav Smilovsky.

Now the Klyuchevsky volcano is rather calm. However, there are a lot of light surface earthquakes, permanent volcanic vibration, gas kicks and ashfalls.

In flying weather a helicopter can take the body at the height of 3,300 metres. Under unfavourable meteorological conditions rescuers will take the killed man to the base camp at the height of 2,500 metres and will stay there until the weather improves because further descending is impossible.

The tourist from Czechia who climbed the volcano together with his 20 compatriots got a serious head injury because of a stonefall.

Rescuers were summoned only the next day because of the lack of communication means. They evacuated 19 people.

The killed man's body was fixed on a volcano slope because evacuation works under high volcano activity are dangerous for rescuers themselves.

The route of the Czech group was approved by the Kamchatka tourist company Shiveluch. However, the group was not registered in the civil defence and emergencies main department of the Kamchatka region and the route was not coordinated. The group was accompanied only by a Czech guide and they had no Alpinist equipment.

The prosecutor's office of the Kamchatka region is investigating the accident.

Klyuchevsky is the highest active volcano in Europe and Asia (4,835 metres high). At the moment of the rise of the Czech group and rescue operations the height of gas kicks above the crater reached 2,000 metres.