MG with AFP –
Relief after long hours of anguish. Announced in difficulty and actively sought by Argentinian rescuers, two French climbers were found unharmed in the area of the Andean volcano Ojos del Salado, local authorities announced on Tuesday. They were discovered Monday at about 5,600 m altitude, a little higher than the temporary camp that the rescue team had to set up for Sunday night. According to the Ministry of Security of the Province of Catamarca, the two tricolors present “logical health problems (dehydration) given the difficult context they had to face, but without major risks for their integrity”.
The two mountaineers, who had undertaken the ascent of the highly prized Ojos del Salado, considered the highest volcano in the world, from the city of Fiambala (1,357 km northwest of Buenos Aires), had sent a satellite signal distress this weekend in difficult weather conditions. A team of high mountain rescuers set out on Sunday afternoon. The research had started on a background “difficult climatic conditions, with heavy rains and hailstorms in the high mountains”, had specified the police of the province of Catamarca (north-west).