Climbers found dead in Italian Alps week after going missing

The bodies of two Romanian climbers missing since last week were found Monday in the Gran Paradiso massif in the Italian Alps, authorities told AFP.

The two Romanian nationals whose ages have not been disclosed had not made contact since leaving a mountain refuge on July 9, according to authorities in the Aosta Valley, a northern region bordering Switzerland and France.

The two climbers died after falling into a crevasse, ANSA reported, citing rescuers.

After several days of helicopter searches, their bodies were found Monday morning at the bottom of a crevasse about 65 feet deep, regional authorities said.

Gran Paradiso rises to 4,061 meters within Italy’s oldest national park.

Mountain accidents are common in Italy. Earlier this year, a record 13 backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers died in the Italian mountains over just one week, including 10 people killed by avalanches.

In 2025, mountain accidents caused 528 deaths, an increase of 13% compared with the 466 fatalities recorded in 2024, according to the Italian National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS).

In November 2025, five German mountaineers, including a man and his teen daughter, died after being hit by an avalanche in South Tyrol, in northern Italy.