Four climbers found “dead of exhaustion” on Mont Blanc, trapped for three days by bad weather

The bodies of four climbers have been found. MAXPPP – Grégory YETCHMENIZA

Four Korean and Italian climbers, trapped for three days by bad weather near the summit of Mont Blanc, were found on Tuesday, September 10, “dead of exhaustion”, the Haute-Savoie prefecture announced to AFP.

The rescuers, who had difficulty accessing the site due to bad weather conditions, first found the rope team of two Koreans and the Italians in the immediate vicinity”, according to this source.

The two roped parties, whose "families were warned", had left "without a guide", added the prefecture. An overflight organized in the morning from Chamonix to locate them had failed, blocked by a barrier of clouds. Italian rescuers then went there on foot "but saw nothing", according to the Chamonix High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM).

"The bodies were brought back down"

Finally, "it was the PGHM helicopter from Annecy that was able to land and found them around 1:30 p.m., 100-200 meters from the summit. The bodies were brought down", added these gendarmes.

Late Saturday afternoon, the PGHM had been alerted for "three roped parties lost not far from the summit of Mont Blanc in very poor weather conditions".

A roped party composed of two Koreans had been able to be evacuated Sunday morning, with the support of significant resources, at an altitude of 4,100 m, not far from the Col de la Brenva. But the worsening weather conditions had not allowed any intervention for the other two roped parties since then. The Bonneville prosecutor's office is in charge of the investigation, according to the prefecture.