Published 2024-09-12 23.53
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full screen Andrea Galimberti and Sara Stefanelli pleaded for help in vain.
In a desperate emergency call, Andrea Galimberti and Sara Stefanelli asked for help.
70 hours later, the dead were found on Mont Blanc.
Wrapped in each other’s arms, as if trying to keep warm.
Andrea Galimberti, 53, and Sara Stefanelli, 41, were reported missing on Saturday, September 7.
Three days later, the dead were found near the top of Mont Blanc, 4,600 meters above sea level.
– They were surprised by the bad weather conditions on Saturday and were stranded, without protection, says Etienne Rolland of the police in Chamonix.
Sounded the alarm
According to AFP, they must have climbed Mont Blanc without a guide. During Saturday they sounded the alarm.
– We can’t see anything. Come and get us, we risk freezing to death, said the couple in the dramatic emergency call.
At the time it was 15 degrees cold and the wind was blowing up to 41 meters per second.
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full screen Four climbers have been found dead on Mont Blanc. Two from South Korea and two from Italy. Photo: Razvan/Getty
Impossible conditions
The poor weather conditions slowed down the search effort. But as soon as the weather permitted, they started. At dawn on Sunday, both Italian and French alpaca rescuers moved out.
But it was like looking for a needle in a haystack – the elk rescue describes for Rai how the storm of the night had swept away all traces.
There was at least 50 centimeters of fresh snow on the mountaintop. Strong winds and the risk of avalanches made it impossible to explore the area on foot.
The police knew that there was almost zero hope that the couple would be found alive. But the families held out hope, knowing the couple were seasoned mountain climbers.
Two more climbers were found dead
When the bodies were found, 70 hours after the emergency call, on the steep, icy slope of the Mur de la Côte that leads up to the summit of Mont Blanc, they lay embraced. Police believe they were trying to keep warm in the freezing cold.
According to French authorities, they died of severe hypothermia.
A hundred meters away, two South Korean climbers were found, who had also been missing since Saturday when they were surprised by the bad weather.
Loving post: “Most beautiful ever”
The Italian couple were experienced mountaineers – especially Andrea Galimberti, who climbed the Alps several times.
In a Facebook post, he describes how earlier this year he and his girlfriend Sara tackled the Matterhorn together after Sara took a mountaineering course.
“It was perhaps my most beautiful high-altitude climb ever,” he wrote.