Three British mountaineers die in Sierra Nevada

6 March 2006

GRANADA — The bodies of three British mountaineers have been found in the Sierra Nevada near Granada.

The Civil Guard Mountain Rescue Service found the bodies of the three Britons, who had been missing since Sunday.

They were discovered on the south face of the Mulhacén mountain.

Their bodies were found in an area called the Collado del Mulhacén and it appeared they had died from hypothermia.

The three had been caught in blizzard conditions where temperatures dipped below freezing.

The mountaineers had left without wearing adequate clothing and without proper shoes.

The son of one of the dead mountaineers called Spanish rescuers after the group was found sheltering in a snow hole.

They sheltered in an area called Siete Lagunas and Collado de Trevélez.

A search using a helicopter was started on Sunday and began again early on Monday.

Civil guard and mountain rescue teams were removing the bodies of the three climbers from the mountain.

They were being taken to a small town called Capileira, in the Alpujarras.
 
A separate rescue team are searching for two Spanish climbers who were lost in the mountains near Ciudad Real.
 
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news