Two tourists and a guide from the original party of 12 were evacuated by helicopter, and taken to the nearest settlement, the village of Klyuchi, Russia’s state run news outlet RIA Novosti reported.

The other nine members of the group had died, with at least five falling to their deaths, local media reported.

“It is planned that people will be evacuated from there by board of the territorial center for disaster medicine to Petropavlovsk,” the press service of the Center for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Fire Safety of the Kamchatka Territory said.

One of the three climbers has frostbite on their arms and legs, authorities said, while the other two are healthy.

The party of 12 included two guides. The group, members of which arrived from several regions of Russia, set off to ascend the 4,754 meter (15,597 foot) volcano together on August 30.

On September 3, the group set up camp at 3,300 meters (10,826 foot), and nine members set off to climb higher.

According to local media reports, at least five fell to their deaths at an altitude of around 4,150 meters (13,615 foot) on Saturday, and the others died within a few days, reportedly of hypothermia.

The three surviving climbers waited for help at a cabin at 3,300 meters (10,826 foot), where they sheltered awaiting rescue.

According to the prosecutor’s office of the region, the tourist group included residents of the Altai, Primorsky and Kamchatka regions, Moscow, and the Novosibirsk and Vladimir regions.

On Sunday, a rescue attempt by helicopter failed due to heavy cloud cover and gale-force winds.

“They were scheduled to land at an altitude of 3,300m, but due to gale force winds at 30 meters per second [67 mph] they failed to do so, although two attempts were made a few hours apart,” rescuers said.

“The outcome of the search and rescue operation depends on various factors: weather conditions (wind strength, precipitation, cloud cover), ash clouds on slopes, melting glaciers, debris flows and rock falls,” the local civil defense authority said.

Rescuers said temperatures at Klyuchevskaya Sopka can fall to 6.8 degrees Fahrenheit overnight.

The volcano, which lies between the Sea of Okhotsk on the west and the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea on the east, is part of the natural Volcanoes of Kamchatka UNESCO World Heritage site, and has erupted more than 50 times since 1700.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, a federal agency, has opened a criminal case under the article “causing death by negligence to two or more persons,” RIA Novosti reported.