Five cross-country skiers, including several members of the same family, were found dead along an Alpine ridge on Monday after being reported missing over the weekend near the famed Matterhorn, Swiss police said, adding that a desparate search for a sixth skier is underway.
Commander of Valais regional police Christian Varone told a news conference that six skiers set out in "relatively good" conditions on Saturday but that the situation swiftly turned dire as they traversed a route between the resort town of Zermatt at the foot of the Matterhorn to the village of Arolla near the Italian border.
Rescuers set out to search for the missing skiers on Sunday in bad weather conditions.
Varone told reporters that the skiers were between 21 and 58, but did not provide names or further details nor did he specify which individuals were missing or if all the victims were relatives.
2018 witnessed the deaths of seven skiers in the region who died in similar conditions. A relative alerted authorities on Saturday that the group never arrived in Arolla before nightfall.
One of the skiers is said to have spoken by phone with a rescue squad that helped them pinpoint their location, which was near White Head at nearly 11,500 feet.
There was an immediate mobilization, but search teams were forced to turn around. Another search team was suspended because of poor weather conditions, according to police.
Technical teams used mobile phone networks to pinpoint the location of the missing mountaineers. A helicopter squad then ferried in a team including a doctor, a police officer, and two rescuers to a cabin on the "Dent Blanche" peak, near where they recovered the five bodies.
