A 26-year-old guide and her 30-year-old client were found dead late Friday afternoon in the Mont-Blanc massif (Haute-Savoie) in Chamonix, the Chamonix gendarmerie said on Saturday.
"They were discovered around 6:15 p.m." by the high mountain gendarmerie platoon (PGHM) of the town of Chamonix, said a source in the gendarmerie, after falling while taking the normal route of the Aiguille du Peigne.
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The bodies of the victims, both French, "were found in one face of the needle by witnesses who also roamed the summit and who passed the alert", explained the PGHM.
Access to Mont-Blanc made dangerous with the drought
It is an accident and an investigation to determine the causes of it is underway, added the same source.
"The high mountains have become more dangerous with the drought, but access was not subject to any particular prohibition," said the PGHM.
On August 5, two refuges allowing the ascent of Mont-Blanc were closed because of the "danger of death" represented by numerous rock falls due to the drought.
In mid-July, the authorities of Haute-Savoie had recommended to mountaineers who wish to climb Mont-Blanc by the classic route, taking the Goûter corridor, to temporarily postpone their ascent due to repeated rockfalls.
