British climbers freeze to death on Matterhorn

An aerial view of the monumental Matterhorn Keystone

The dead bodies of two missing British climbers have been found on the Matterhorn. It seems they were surprised by bad weather and froze to death.

The two men had been missing since Thursday, but the severe weather delayed the search and rescue efforts. They most likely died that night. The search party found them some 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) above sea level, at Pic Tyndall on the mountain’s southwest shoulder overlooking Italy.

One of the men was wearing only light clothing. They were found in a ravine under half a metre of snow.

The 4,478-metre mountain stands on the Swiss-Italian border. More than 500 people have died trying to climb it since its first ascent in 1865.