Four Italian climbers fall to their deaths

Four Italian climbers fell 3,280 feet to their deaths while climbing the Aiguille du Midi, one of the highest peaks on Mont-Blanc range of the French Alps.

Colonel Olivier Kim of the gendarmerie of the Haute Savoie region of France, said the accident took place overnight Saturday. The four battered bodies were found today and taken to the nearby village of Chamonix.

The identities of the victims have not yet been released, but Kim says they came from the Turin region and were between 35-40 years old. The accident is the most serious so far this winter season. Last year, 58 people died and a dozen went missing in the French Alps.