"One of the catamarans was tied to the south bank of the river, the other was in pieces on the north bank," said the Russian spokesman.
The spokesman went on to say that the catamarans had been found in a canyon only accessible by helicopter.
"The Emergency Situations Ministry rescue team is planning to descend to the canyon Thursday morning to continue the search for the tourists," continued the spokesman.
The group of Russian sportsmen had planned a canoe trip down the Yurungkax River, a remote area in the Kunlun Mountains, one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, but they failed to turn up 12 days later as scheduled.
The Russian Canoe Federation subsequently requested help from the Russian embassy in China in finding the missing sportsmen, and over 1,000 rescuers have been searching the area.
