Two American and Canadian climbers reportedly died on New Zealand’s highest mountain

New Zealand police say they do not believe two Americans and a Canadian missing for five days survived a fall on New Zealand’s highest peak.

The three men – Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, from the United States, as well as a Canadian national – were visiting New Zealand and were reportedly late for their planned climb of the ‘Aoraki Mount Cook Monday. morning, Aoraki Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker said in a statement.

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“Due to favorable weather, a helicopter was deployed today in the search for the three missing climbers on Mount Cook Aoraki,” Walker said in a statement Friday. “The search for the men began on Monday, following a report that they were late.”

The search was hampered by dangerous weather conditions all week, but a helicopter crew discovered other climbing-related items on the mountain, including a summit, energy gels, a jacket and a pickaxe whose Authorities could not confirm that they belonged to the three missing men, but strongly believe they did, according to officials.

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“(Friday) afternoon, a team of two drones was deployed by helicopter to a safe area. Based on the drone footage, we can see evidence of where climbers had begun to navigate the slopes below the Zurbriggen Ridge,” Walker continued in his statement. “This evidence includes footprints and the items we recovered. It’s now been five days since the trio were reported late.”

“After considering the number of days the climbers were missing, no communication, the items we recovered and our reconnaissance today, we do not believe the men survived,” Walker continues. “We think they fell. “This is definitely not the news we wanted to share today.”

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Police are working with the U.S. and Canadian embassies to inform and support the families of the three men.

“We think first and foremost of men’s families in the United States and Canada. We spoke to them today and, predictably, it was not the phone call they wanted to receive,” Walker said. “I’m devastated for them: the whole research team wanted a positive result. We remain prepared to reactivate our search if we receive new information or credible reports of sightings – particularly from the climbing community.

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Police will now launch a recovery operation, but say its feasibility will be carefully considered and managed.

“I know that finding the men will be what the family wants and deserves,” authorities continued. “Police have now formally informed the coroner of our belief that the climbers did not survive a fall. I would like to thank the teams who gave their all to this research. We all wanted this operation to be a success.

2 US, Canadian climbers suspected of death on New Zealand’s highest mountain originally appeared on abcnews.go.com