The bodies of five missing skiers have been found in the Swiss Alps, police said.
Local authorities are still looking for a sixth person.
A massive search and rescue operation was launched on Saturday after the group went missing near the 3,706-meter Mount Tete Blanche.
They set off on a ski tour from Zermatt, home of the famous Matterhorn, to Alola, on the Swiss-Italian border.
Five of the six skiers were found with “no signs of life” at 9:20 p.m. local time (8:20 p.m. Japan time), according to a statement from Switzerland’s Valais cantonal police.
Authorities previously reported that the skiers were all Swiss nationals aged between 21 and 58.
Local police said teams on both sides of the route were on alert, but operations were hampered by bad weather.
Strong winds have been in the Alps for several days and heavy snow has fallen in the past 24 hours.
Saas-Fee, a winter sports resort adjacent to Zermatt, is currently closed to traffic due to snow.
Anjan Traffer, head of Zermatt’s air rescue service, told media that the weather was so bad, “very strong winds, heavy snow, high risk of avalanches and zero visibility” that “flying was not an option.” “It was,” he said.
Traffer said the group was lost on a part of the Zermatt-Alora route where the risk of avalanches is low, so it’s possible they were hit by bad weather and didn’t get hit by the avalanche.
Ski tours typically follow unprepared alpine routes and are equipped with tracking devices and avalanche shovels.
The last signal of the group was recorded overnight. Traffer said it was “not verbal,” but it gave emergency responders a general idea of his location.
The route from Zermatt to Alora is part of the famous 120 km “Haute Route” from Zermatt to Chamonix.
It is very popular, but suitable only for the most experienced skiers and can take several days.