Four Italian, Korean climbers found dead

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 (1130 GMT) and found the bodies between 100 and 200 metres (330-660 feet) from the summit.

"The bodies have been brought down" from the mountain and "the families informed", the PGHM's Chamonix branch said.

A group of Italian mountain rescuers had reached the summit on foot after setting off in the morning but did not spot the bodies, the police added. Police were alerted late on Saturday about "three missing climbing parties near the summit of Mont Blanc in very poor weather conditions".