By KEVIN ADJEI-DARKO, SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER and WILL STEWART
A Russian climber who had been stranded 24,000ft up a mountain for two weeks is now presumed dead after thermal imaging was taken of the area.
Natalia Nagovitsyna was climbing the Victory Peak in Kyrgyzstan, but broke her leg and became stuck.
The state security agency said on Wednesday that thermal-imaging drone survey of the area where Nagovitsyna was showed no signs she was still alive.
'Based on analysis of the data obtained and taking into account a combination of factors, including extreme weather conditions and the specifics of the area, no signs of life were found at Nagovitsyna's location,' it said in a statement.
Several rescue attempts failed to retrieve the 47-year-old climber, who spent more than two weeks in a small orange tent, torn apart by gusting winds, at the mountain top where summer temperatures reach lower than -20C.
The news comes after her son begged for renewed rescue efforts. An Italian climber, Luca Sinigaglia, died on August 15, trying to reach her.
One rescue helicopter crashed, and other attempts had to be called off as climbers became ill and faced extreme weather conditions.
Experts previously said no one has ever been evacuated from such a high altitude on the mountain.
Natalia Nagovitsyna, who had been stranded 24,000ft up a mountain for two weeks, is now presumed dead after thermal imaging was taken of the area
The state security agency said on Wednesday that thermal-imaging drone survey of the area where Nagovitsyna was showed no signs she was still alive.
Natalia Nagovitsyna was climbing the Victory Peak in Kyrgyzstan, but broke her leg and became stuck.
The drone flight had been called for a day earlier by the son of the stricken mountaineer, Mikhail Nagovitsin, who appealed for more to be done to rescue his mother
The drone flight had been called for a day earlier by the son of the stricken mountaineer, Mikhail Nagovitsin, 27.
He had appealed for assistance from Russia, and Russian Investigative Committee chairman Alexander Bastrykin - a university classmate of Vladimir Putin - demanded action to seek to rescue her.
He said: 'My mother is an experienced climber... and is also in very good shape.' He also expressed his shock at how rescuers had halted the search amid claims she had been 'left to die'.
He said: 'I am sure that she is alive and wants the search to be resumed. I ask for assistance in organising aerial video shooting of the Peak Pobeda area using drones to confirm the fact that she is alive.'
He has now lost both of his parents to separate mountain tragedies.
Four years ago, Mikhail's father, Sergei, died at a similar altitude on another mountain after suffering a stroke on a climb.
Famously, Natalia defied orders to abandon him to die and remained with him through a blizzard, declaring she was unafraid of dying.
There had been hopes of a window in the bad weather on Monday to enable a new drone flight to the 'death zone' where temperatures plummeted to minus 30C at the weekend.
Heroic Italian mountaineer Luca Sinigaglia, 49, brought her a tent, sleeping bag, food, water and a gas cooker, which enabled her to survive for longer, but he died on his way back to report on her condition.
She was seen waving to a drone on August 19 after she became trapped.
But rescuers said the weather had not improved, and a drone flight was not made.
A light rescue helicopter and its Italian crew departed from the area, as officials said her body would be recovered next spring.
Heroic mountaineer Luca Sinigaglia, 49, brought her a tent, sleeping bag, food, water and a gas cooker, which enabled her to survive for longer. He tragically died on his way back to report on her condition and arrange a full-scale rescue.
Anna Piunova, deputy head of the Russian Mountaineering Federation, has hit out at the rescue attempts.
She also criticised the climber for not having an experienced local guide with her team on the mountain.
The 24,406ft peak is known as one of the most difficult and dangerous on the planet.