Missing Climbers | Italian Bodies Found

The body of Luca Lombardini was recovered by the PGHM yesterday at 16hr45.  His brother and his fiancee were located nearby but have yet to be retrieved.

The ascent was a birthday present for Luca, who was joined by his fiancee and his brother Alessandro, himself a mountain rescue worker in Bardonecchia, near the French border.

Thanks to an analysis of the images collected by the drone, the PGHM was able to identify a clue.  The presence of a rope tangled up in snow and rocks, located at the base of the Couloir Chevalier.  In addition, they were able to obtain two GPS points from the victims mobile phones.

The other two bodies were not found yesterday, but more than likely to be found this morning with the help of colder temperatures.  Two gendarmes arrived from Marseille last night with a device that can search for cell phones even when they have no network.

The heatwave that gripped much of Europe in recent weeks has also made conditions more treacherous, causing large amounts of permafrost to melt, thus making the mountains extremely unstable.