A climber died and his partner was seriously injured on Saturday after a fall on Mount Elbrus, Russian emergency services confirmed. The two were ascending the eastern peak when they slipped at an altitude of approximately 4,200 metres, according to the regional branch of the Investigative Committee. A rescue team of 12 specialists was deployed to the scene, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said. Russian media, citing anonymous Telegram channels, identified the victims as a father and son and reported that a safety rope broke, dragging the pair roughly a kilometre down the Achkeryakol lava flow. Authorities have not yet released the climbers’ identities or the precise cause of the accident.

Separately, Austrian police reported two fatal falls involving German nationals in the Vorarlberg and Tyrol regions. In the first, a holidaymaker from Fürth lost his balance after unclipping from a via ferrata on the Schafalpenkopf near Mittelberg and fell around 100 metres down a vertical rock face. He had complained of exhaustion moments earlier, police said. The second incident occurred during a guided descent from the Wildspitze in the Ötztal Alps, where a 63-year-old man, part of a five-member group moving without a rope, fell roughly 200 metres for reasons that remain unclear. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene and recovered by police helicopter.

In Romania’s Bucegi Mountains, a 36-year-old dentist, Antonia Mihăilescu, died on 11 July when a single anchor point failed during a group descent of the Albișoara Brânei route. All four climbers, including a qualified instructor, fell more than 10 metres onto rocks. Mihăilescu was declared dead at the scene; the three men survived with serious injuries. A rescue operation involving four helicopters and described by officials as one of the largest in Romanian mountain history took three hours to extract the group. Police have opened an investigation into possible manslaughter and negligent bodily harm, with early assessments by rescuers suggesting the anchor was too short to hold securely in the rock.

The incidents come amid a busy summer season on Europe’s high peaks. Elbrus, the continent’s highest mountain at 5,642 metres, draws thousands of climbers annually, and its eastern route is considered technically straightforward but exposed to sudden weather changes. On 17 July, a 21-year-old Russian woman with a hip prosthesis successfully reached the summit, guided by an experienced mountaineer, underscoring the mountain’s accessibility when conditions and preparation align. All three accidents remain under investigation by local authorities, and provisional tolls have not been revised.