Two mountaineers found dead after week stranded in French Alps
Two French mountaineers have died after being trapped on a glacier in the Alps for six days. Although they had phoned emergency services, thick fog and cloud prevented rescue helicopters saving them.
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The bodies of 44-year-old Charlotte Demetz and her guide, 47-year-old Olivier Sourzac were spotted at an altitude of 4,050 metres on Wednesday.
Last Thursday Sourzac called rescue services on his mobile phone to say that they were in trouble on the Linceul glacier, in the Grandes Jorasses, despite both being experienced climbers.
The weather had become terrible and Demetz was exhausted, he said, but they had managed to dig a hole to give themselves some protection.
But rescue workers lost contact on Friday and the weather also prevented them reaching the pair.
But when they were finally found on Wednesday they were already dead from the cold, local officials say.
Their bodies were brought down to the Italian town of Courmayeur.
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