TRAGEDY OF THE ALPS

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXV, Issue 7723, 17 July 1928, Page 3

TRAGEDY OF THE ALPS

FOUR FRENCH CLIMBERS HURLED TO DEATH FALL OF THOUSAND FEET Australian and N.Z. Cable. LONDON, July 15. The Daily New’s Geneva correspondent says that a tragedy occurred in the Zermatt district, which is the worst in 25 years, four being killed. Watchers from a hotel on the Gornergrat witnessed every phase and it was even possible, through a telescope, to observe three alpenstocks In the snow and to trace blood where the climbers had fallen. The victims were French tourists named Le Becque, De Digord, Guilbert and Langlois. They started early on Friday to climb the Breithorn and remained for hours on a spot some distance up. Finally they made a supreme effort to reach the summit. The first man lost his footing and fell 1000 feet into a crevasse, dragging two companions with him. The third soon disappeared into an abyss. Relief columns immediately made a search and found all four dead.