4 climbers found dead on Mont Blanc after victims' phone connection with rescuers reportedly cuts out

Four climbers from Italy and South Korea were found dead on the Alps' highest peak of Mont Blanc on Tuesday after they had been missing for three days in bad weather, the local French prefecture said.

The mountaineers had "died of exhaustion," the Haute-Savoie prefecture told AFP, adding that rescuers who finally reached the site found the two Koreans first, close by the two Italians.

A helicopter from the PGHM mountain police based in Annecy was able to land at around 1:30 pm and found the bodies between 100 and 200 meters (330-660 feet) from the summit.