Ukrainian Journalist Dies on Climbing Trip in Georgia

TBILISI – A 32-year old Ukrainian journalist and amateur mountaineer, Pavel Syvokon, died after falling into a 5-meter cleft while climbing Georgia’s Mt Kazbeg.

According to news site DF Watch, Syvokon’s body was found by a group of other climbers not far from the small town of Stepantsminda. Rescuers were called to the scene, but first responders later reported that Syvokon was already dead by the time they arrived.

Syvokon’s death is the first reported case of a tourist dying while climbing Georgia’s isolated Great Caucasus Mountains. Fatalities are common, however, and dozens of cases are usually reported each year.

The 5,100-meter Mt Kazbek is one of Georgia’s most climbing destinations but known as a perilous trek due to the mountain’s height and rapidly changing weather conditions.

“You have to follow certain rules while climbing and take into account different factors, as well as prepare for the climb properly. From what the other climbers told us, he didn’t have the equipment he needed to climb a mountain like Kazbeg,” a spokesperson from the emergency services told the media.

Preliminary reports indicate Syvokon fell to his death on Thursday.

Syvokon’s wife, Natalya Guzenko, is currently in Tbilisi arranging to have her husband’s body repatriated to Ukraine.

By Nicholas Waller