Enlarge image
Mountain rescue helicopter in Sulden at the foot of the Ortles
Photo:
dpa
A serious mountain accident has occurred in the Italian Ortler Alps.
Two German mountaineers were buried by an avalanche in the province of South Tyrol and lost their lives.
The snow masses hit the two men on Wednesday when they climbed the Ortler - the highest mountain in the northern Italian province.
As the mountain rescue confirmed, one of the two men was found on Wednesday evening.
The search for the other was called off because of the onset of darkness.
Discovered in the avalanche cone
The emergency services found the second climber on Thursday, and he could only be recovered dead.
"He had a beeper with him, but it was broken," said Olaf Reinstadler from the mountain rescue service in Sulden am Ortler to the Rai transmitter.
Details about the two men are not yet known.
They left on Wednesday morning to climb the 3905 meter high Ortler via the difficult north face.
According to media reports, when the two media reports did not contact the relatives in the afternoon, they informed the mountain rescue service.
apr/dpa