Amir Kunakunov

Amir's body was found on 9 November 2026 at around 16:00 on rocks near Peak Elektro in the Ala-Archa nature park, at about 3,500 to 3,600 metres. The Emergency Ministry said its rescuers found him. His cousin said he was found by climbers helping the search, and triathlete Ilyar Bakaev told BBC Kyrgyz he spotted Amir's red jacket on magnified satellite imagery and that they found him together with the ministry. The preliminary cause of death was hypothermia. The exact time of death has not been made public.

His father was allowed to leave custody to attend the funeral, held in Bishkek on 10 November 2026. Many relatives, friends, classmates, teachers, volunteers and climbers attended. His parents did not speak to the media, and a cousin thanked everyone who had helped on the family's behalf. Polotova said the family would request records of all calls made from Amir's phone to 112.

Amir Kunakunov grew up in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Kaktus.media reported that he was born in 2011, and his family said he would have turned 15 on 17 November 2026. His father is Maksat Kunakunov, a former member of the Jogorku Kenesh for the Ak Jol party (2007 to 2010). An uncle told Bulak.kg that Amir was the fifth of eight children in the family. He had an older brother, and his mother was the person he first asked for permission to go to Ala-Archa. His birthplace and his mother's name have not been made public.

His father has spent long periods in custody. He was detained in 2015 on several charges, sentenced to ten years in 2017 and released on parole in 2019, and he has denied the charges and said he was mistreated in prison. He was detained again in the autumn of 2026 on suspicion of fraud, so he was in a Bishkek pre-trial detention centre while his son was missing.

Amir was a schoolboy in Bishkek at the time of his death. The name of his school has not been made public. His classmate Aidin Kalmurzaev spoke to the press about their friendship and their last conversation, and classmates and teachers attended his funeral.

In a statement released on 10 November 2026, his family described Amir as cheerful, curious and talented. He was interested in astronomy and studied stars, planets and galaxies. He loved running, including marathon distances, practised martial arts and had taken up mountaineering. His cousin Agynai Polotova said he dreamed of climbing Edelweiss Peak and had already been in the same mountains in October, and that he had travelled to Ala-Archa before with a Telegram group of climbers.

Relatives remembered his warm smile, his politeness and his sense of humour. Polotova said he was "the family favourite" and rejected online speculation that he had gone into the mountains because of personal problems.

On the evening of 6 November 2026 Amir asked his mother if he could go to a running race in Ala-Archa, and she refused. The next morning he asked his older brother, saying the run would be nearby and he would be back quickly. At the park on 7 November organisers did not let him race because entrants had to be 18. He then walked alone toward the Adygene gorge. He had told classmate Aidin Kalmurzaev he wanted to go into the mountains and had agreed not to, but went anyway.

Witnesses saw him at the Elektro camp during the day, and around ten people told the family they had seen him climbing and had asked him to come down with them. Relatives said he did not take the family's hiking gear and was seen with an ordinary walking stick. He reached the summit area of Adygene Peak and sent a video to a class WhatsApp chat. Around 19:00 he told Kalmurzaev on a video call that he was coming down and could see people with torches nearby. At 19:02 he called 112 and said he was lost while descending from Adygene. About 19:30 he also wrote to the climbers' Telegram group.

The 112 dispatcher passed the call to the duty officer of the State Rescuer Training Centre, and rescuers located Amir by geolocation near Peak Elektro. The duty Edelweiss rescue team was then evacuating other people near the Ratsek hut, where there was no mobile signal, and the ministry said the team learned of Amir's call only at about 22:00. Three of the five rescuers set off toward Peak Elektro around midnight while the others continued an evacuation.

The search went on through the night and all of 8 November, when more rescue units, a helicopter and drones were added. Volunteers arrived within hours, bringing food, water and equipment. Searchers found his backpack, and there were reports that his phone signal had registered near the village of Vostok in Chuy Region early on 8 November. Relatives later said they believed he had stayed near the place he called from, waiting for help.

Amir's death led to wide public criticism of the Emergency Ministry, including calls on social media for the minister to resign. Activist Assol Moldokmatova wrote to President Sadyr Japarov asking for an investigation and better oversight of mountain routes. Cabinet chairman Adylbek Kasymaliev ordered a review of the rescue, Kamchybek Tashiev criticised the minister's actions, and deputies discussed the case in a plenary session of the Jogorku Kenesh. Deputy Minister Almazbek Asanov told journalists that the ministry felt a "moral guilt" for the boy's death.

On 11 November 2026 the presidential administration's control department reported serious shortcomings in search organisation, response, information transfer and coordination. Asanov, Crisis Management Centre head Azis Egemberdiev and State Rescuer Training Centre head Tynarbek Murashov were dismissed, and Minister Kanatbek Chynybaev received a strict reprimand from the president. The Military Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal negligence case, and Azattyk reported that the General Prosecutor's Office was also examining the death. His family asked that he be remembered for how he lived and thanked climbers, volunteers and rescuers for their solidarity.

The search and its aftermath were covered by Kyrgyz outlets including 24.kg, Kaktus.media, AKIpress, Sputnik Kyrgyzstan, Gazeta.kg, KTRK, NOMAD TV, Ala-Too 24, Azattyk (RFE/RL) and BBC News Kyrgyz. Video reports covered the search, the funeral and the family's account of his last day.