Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Missing Matterhorn climbers found dead

climber
The two climbers intended to climb the Matterhorn via the Hörnligrat last Wednesday. Keystone / Christian Gisi

A search flight has discovered the bodies of two mountaineers that were reported missing by a family member.

They are believed to have fallen to their deaths at the Hörnligrat located on the eastern face of the Matterhorn mountain, at an altitude of 3700 metres. Their bodies were only discovered on Saturday thanks to a search flight, announced the Valais cantonal police.

External Content

The two climbers intended to climb the Matterhorn via the Hörnligrat last Wednesday. Two days later, a member of their family announced their disappearance.

On Saturday morning, a search flight was organised with Air-Zermatt and the Zermatt rescue station. The two missing climbers were discovered at the foot of the eastern face of the Furgg Glacier. They fell from about 500 to 600 meters and weren’t attached to each other by a rope.

The deceased have not yet been formally identified but are believed to be foreign climbers based on the missing persons report. An investigation was opened to clarify the exact cause of the accident.

More

More

Matterhorn: 360 degrees of virtual reality

This content was published on Come to the top of Switzerland’s most famous mountain without any training or climbing, and experience the Matterhorn’s exquisite views in 3D.

Read more: Matterhorn: 360 degrees of virtual reality


In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR