29 July 2023 , 05:28
406
0
A group of glacier climbers were startled to discover the body of a man who disappeared almost four decades ago.
DNA tests have confirmed that a corpse recently found on a glacier southeast of the famed Matterhorn peak is that of a German mountaineer who disappeared 37 years ago, police in southwestern Switzerland said Thursday.
Increasing glacier melt, which many scientists blame on global warming, has spurred a recent increase in discoveries of the remains of hikers, skiers and other Alpinists who went missing decades ago. Regional police said the 38-year-old German went missing in September 1986 and that searches at the time did not find him.
Human remains and climbing equipment were discovered on the glacier (Polizei Wallis/Twitter)On July 12, mountaineers on the Theodul glacier near the Italian border found the remains of the man, which were then transported to a nearby hospital for analysis. Genetic tests confirmed the man's identity, which was not made public by the regional police.
Swiss climatologists and other experts say the country's glaciers have been melting at accelerated rates in recent years, attributing it in part to climate change caused by human activity.
Protesters planned to kidnap King Charles waxwork and hold it hostage
Last year another melting Swiss glacier revealed the body of a man, believed to be that of a billionaire missing since 2018. Karl-Erivan Haub, 58, disappeared under mysterious circumstances in Zermatt, Switzerland when he was training for a ski mountaineering race under the Matterhorn peak.
The body of German billionaire Karl-Erivan Haub may have been found last year (ROLAND WEIHRAUCH/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)He was last seen on the morning of April 7, 2018, as he headed up a mountain lift but the alarm was raised the following morning after he failed to show up at his hotel in the Swiss resort of Zermatt. His body was never found and he was declared formally dead three years later.
Record heatwaves across Europe last summer melted part of the Stockji glacier in the Valais canton, near the Swiss mountain resort town of Zermatt, revealing human remains. German media speculated they could be Mr Haub, who was one of the country's wealthiest people, but this has never been confirmed.