5 climbers fall to their deaths on the world's 7th-highest peak

Five Russian mountaineers who appeared to have slipped and fallen on the world's seventh-highest peak have died, an expedition organizer in Nepal said Tuesday.

The Russians were climbing 26,788-foot high Mount Dhaulagiri during Nepal's autumn climbing season.

The climbers had been reported missing since Sunday and a rescue helicopter spotted their bodies on Tuesday, said Pemba Jangbu Sherpa of the Kathmandu-based IAM Trekking and Expeditions .

No decision has been made about bringing the bodies down from the mountain, which would require extensive planning, manpower and equipment.

Two of the climbers had actually reached the summit. The remaining had returned without reaching the top. Radio contact was lost between them and the team members at the base camp. .

The autumn climbing season, which is not as popular as the spring season, began last month. Mountains are less crowded and the permit fees are also lower, but the climbing is equally as perilous. Last October, well-known Russian climber Nadezhda Oleneva fell to her death on Mount Dhaulagiri.

Other details about the five mountaineers who died this week were not available.

The deaths come just a few weeks after five climbers died in the French Alps. Last month, four mountaineers from Italy and South Korea were found dead on the Alps' highest peak of Mont Blanc after they had been missing for three days in bad weather. The next day, a Danish hiker fell to his death in the Mont Blanc massif after slipping from a trail.