Missing 5 cross-country skiers found dead near Switzerland's Matterhorn; search on for 6th

Tragic incident in Swiss Alps as five skiers from same family found dead, one missing near Matterhorn.

Five cross-country skiers — including members of the same Swiss family — were found dead along a high Alpine ridge after going missing over the weekend near Switzerland’s famed Matterhorn. Swiss police said Monday. Another skier remains missing.

Christian Varone, commander of Valais regional police, told a news conference in Sion, Switzerland, that six skiers set out in “relatively good” conditions on Saturday but that the situation deteriorated quickly. They were on a route between the resort town of Zermatt, at the foot of the Matterhorn, and the village of Arolla, near the border with Italy.

Rescue authorities had already announced a search on Sunday in difficult weather conditions.

Mr. Varone said five of the six skiers were from a family from the Valais region, and a sixth person who lived in Fribourg in western Switzerland. He said they were aged between 21 and 58, without providing names or further details. He did not specify which person was still missing or indicate whether all the victims were relatives.

“Unfortunately this region is accustomed to tragedies like this,” he said, alluding to the deaths of seven hikers — six Italians and a Bulgarian — in the region in 2018.

A relative of the family members alerted police on Saturday after the group didn’t arrive in Arolla, as expected, on Saturday before nightfall.