Japanese climbers' bodies found on Matterhorn

Japanese and Swiss officials on Wednesday confirmed the two men's bodies had been found.

"The equipment and clothing was insufficient," a police spokesman of the canton of Valais told German news agency DPA, referring to the first victim, who was located about a day before the second man.

On Saturday, the pair had scaled the 4,478 meter-high (14,700 feet) Matterhorn. They were caught off guard by bad weather during their descent. Rescue efforts were also delayed by the adverse conditions. Japan's foreign ministry told the AFP news agency that the climbers were both aged in their 60s, but declined to supply further details about them because the men's families had not given consent.

The Matterhorn, which straddles the border of Switzerland and Italy, is one of Europe's highest peaks and attracts about 3,000 climbers each year. Some 500 climbers have died on the mountain since it was first ascended 150 years ago. Earlier this month, Swiss authorities reported that they had used DNA testing to identify the remains of two Japanese climbers who had disappeared in 1970. The corpses of long-missing mountaineers have been discovered on the mountain with increasing frequency as ice melts.

se/rc (AFP, AP, dpa)