US, Canadian climbers missing on New Zealand's highest mountain believed to have died, police say

Wellington, New Zealand

Three climbers from the United States and Canada who went missing on New Zealand's highest mountain last week are believed to have died, police said on Friday.

US nationals Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, and a Canadian man whom police have not named, flew by helicopter on Saturday to a camp on Mount Cook, or Aoraki, with plans to summit the 3,724 metre (12,218 ft) mountain.

The three men did not turn up for their return flight on Monday morning, triggering a search-and-rescue effort. Items belonging to the men were found on Tuesday before the search was called off due to bad weather. It only resumed on Friday.

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"Reviewing the number of days the climbers have been missing, no communication, the items we have received, and our reconnaissance today, we do not believe the men have survived," Vicki Walker, a senior New Zealand police officer investigating the men's disappearance, told a news conference on Friday.

Police have informed the men's families, she added.

Over the past century, dozens of climbers have died on Mount Cook, where rockfalls are common and avalanches often occur at higher altitudes. Local media reported in 2014 that 78 people had died on the mountain since 1907.

Scores more have died in the surrounding national park, which is known for its mountains and glaciers.

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