Two crews of climbers who went missing in foul weather in the French Alps over the weekend were found dead on Tuesday after authorities said they “died of exhaustion” short of the summit.
The four mountaineers — two from Italy and two South Koreans — were found Tuesday around 1:30 pm on Mont Blanc, some of them within about 330 feet from the mountain top, Agence France-Presse reported.
The four, who were not identified, went missing Saturday when the mountain was hit with a storm.
Three climbing teams were reported lost on the mountain when a chopper and rescuers set out on foot — including a crew of Korean climbers who were found alive at 13,450 feet on Sunday morning.
An Italian rescue team made it to the summit but did not find the other missing climbers, while weather conditions hampered efforts to find them by helicopter, AFP said.
One official said the missing Italian team was briefly reached by phone during the search while they stuck at 15,000 feet on the mountain’s north face, but the connection was quickly lost.
The bodies of the missing climbers were finally found on Tuesday and brought down the mountain.
“The bodies have been brought down,” an official with Haute-Savoie rescuers reported.
Mont Blanc is the tallest peak in the Alps in Western Europe at nearly 15,800 feet.
With Post wires
