Two teams of climbers who had gone missing in severe weather over the weekend in the French Alps were found dead on Tuesday, with authorities stating they “died of exhaustion” before reaching the summit.
The four mountaineers — two Italians and two South Koreans — were discovered around 1:30 p.m. on Mont Blanc, some within approximately 330 feet of the summit, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.
The group, whose identities have not been disclosed, disappeared on Saturday when a storm struck the mountain.
Efforts to locate them began after three climbing teams were reported lost. One of these teams, a group of South Korean climbers, was found alive on Sunday morning at 13,450 feet.
Mont Blanc (Photo: Getty Images)While an Italian rescue team reached the summit, they were unable to find the remaining missing climbers, and poor weather conditions hindered helicopter searches, AFP reported.
A rescue official mentioned that the missing Italian climbers briefly made contact by phone while stranded at 15,000 feet on the mountain’s north face, but the connection was lost soon after.
On Tuesday, rescuers located and recovered the bodies of the four climbers.
“The bodies have been brought down,” an official from Haute-Savoie rescue services confirmed. Mont Blanc, the tallest peak in the Alps and Western Europe, rises to nearly 15,800 feet.