Peru: Mountaineers Bodies Found Buried by Avalanche

According to Peruvian authorities, three bodies were found in the Andes of the northeastern region of the country Tuesday.

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“Today we have finished the rescue of the bodies of the mountaineers who were buried by an avalanche,” Major Antonio Zea, of the High Mountain police, told AFP. The accident took place, on Saturday, in the area which is about 5,947 meters high, Zea said.

“In circumstances that climbed the snow-covered avalanche came and product of it killed the mountaineers.”

About one dozen rescue officials were dispatched, over a two-day period, to help with the search for the missing mountaineers.

The recovered bodies were identified as Brit Samuel Paul Richard Blelock, Slovenian Eva Zontar Litija and Peruvian guide Jaime Quintana Figueroa, who had all been buried by an avalanche, the police reported. An Argentine, who was yet to be identified, had also been rescued.

In the last two years, six foreign mountaineers have died in snow-related accidents.