LYON: Three Italian climbers were found dead Friday on Mont Blanc in the French Alps, three days after they set out to summit Europe’s highest peak, rescue workers said.
The body of Luca Lombardini was recovered by the mountain police rescue service. Those of his brother and his fiancee were located nearby but have yet to be retrieved.
“They are probably buried under rocks and ice in an area covering a few dozen square meters,” an official at the rescue service said.
They were found around 1:00 p.m. (1100 GMT) at the foot of the Aiguille Verte (“Green Needle“), one of the peaks in the Mont Blanc massif.
“They were going along a ridge at an altitude of 3,400 to 3,500 meters (11,100-11,500 feet), and it seems they slipped and fell together,” the official said.
The ascent was a birthday present for Luca, who was joined by his fiancee and his brother Alessandro, himself a mountain rescue worker in Bardonecchia, near the French border, Italy’s Ansa news agency reported.
The first body was recovered after rescuers cut the cord linking the three climbers, and attempts to recover the other two will resume Saturday morning.
The accident brings to 15 the death toll on the 4,810-meter (10,500-foot) Mont Blanc during this year’s climbing season so far, after 14 people died and two went missing last year.
Overcrowding has increased the risks for the around 300 climbers who attempt to reach the top each day.
Officials last month began limiting access on the most popular route up Mont Blanc by turning away climbers who do not have reservations at the 120-bed Gouter refuge.
The heatwave that gripped much of Europe in recent weeks has also made conditions more treacherous, causing more ice to melt, making the ground more instable.
Three Italian climbers found dead on Mont Blanc
Three Italian climbers found dead on Mont Blanc
- The first body was recovered after rescuers cut the cord linking the three climbers, and attempts to recover the other two will resume Saturday morning
- Overcrowding has increased the risks for the around 300 climbers who attempt to reach the top each day
Cuba says a 5th person died after people on a Florida-flagged speedboat opened fire on soldiers
- Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops
- The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities
HAVANA: Cuba said a fifth person has died as a consequence of a fatal shootout last month involving a Florida-flagged speedboat that allegedly opened fire on soldiers in waters off the island nation’s north coast.
The island’s interior ministry said late Thursday in a statement that Roberto Álvarez Ávila died on March 4 as a result of his injuries. It added that the remaining injured detainees “continue to receive specialized medical care according to their health status.”
Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops. They said the passengers were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and “unleash terrorism”. Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others.
“The statements made by the detainees themselves, together with a series of investigative procedures, reinforce the evidence against them,” the Cuban interior ministry said in its statement, adding that “new elements are being obtained that establish the involvement of other individuals based in the US”
Earlier this week, Cuba said it had filed terrorism charges against six suspects that were on the speedboat. The government unveiled items said to have been found on the boat, including a dozen high-powered weapons, more than 12,800 pieces of ammunition and 11 pistols.
Cuban authorities have provided few details about the shooting, but said the boat was roughly 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) northeast of Cayo Falcones, off the country’s north coast. They also provided the boat’s registration number, but The Associated Press was unable to readily verify the details because boat registrations are not public in the state of Florida.
The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities. The island’s economy was until recently largely kept economically afloat by Venezuela’s oil, which is now in doubt after a US military operation deposed then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
