Five skiers have been found dead on a glacier above the Swiss mountain resort town of Zermatt.
The bodies were found after two hikers reported seeing abandoned skis near the 4,000m Rimpfischhorn mountain in the Valais Alps.
Valais cantonal police said the victims were located on the Adler Glacier after aerial and ground searches.
Authorities have opened an investigation, with weather conditions and avalanche activity in the region being examined.
Three of the bodies were found on the debris of an avalanche a few hundred metres below where the skis were spotted, local airline Air Zermatt said.
The other two were located higher up the mountain, it added.
The airline’s planes are deployed for search missions and other emergencies.
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Formal identification of the victims is underway, and their nationalities have not yet been released.
Zermatt is one of Switzerland‘s premier ski resorts and is visited by British and European skiers.
