Three climbers believed to have died in fall on New Zealand’s highest peak

New Zealand’s highest peak, Aoraki, centre, in the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Three mountain climbers — two from the US and one from Canada — missing for five days on Aoraki, New Zealand’s tallest peak, are believed to have died in a fall, the authorities said on Friday.

The men’s bodies have not been found. But based on footprints glimpsed in the snow during an aerial survey, and items believed to belong to them retrieved from the slopes this week, the search for them has ended, Police Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker told reporters.