The Guardian

Melting glaciers in Swiss Alps could reveal hundreds of mummified corpses

Frozen bodies of couple who vanished 75 years ago among those uncovered recently as global warming forces ice to retreat
The remains of a Swiss couple found preserved in a receding glacier, near Les Diablerets. The pair disappeared in the Alps 75 years ago. Photograph: AFP/Getty

Swiss police say hundreds of bodies of mountaineers who have gone missing in the Alps in the past century could emerge in coming years as global warming forces the country’s glaciers to retreat.

Alpine authorities have registered a significant increase in the number of human remains discovered last month, with the body of a man missing for 30 years the most recent to be uncovered.

Rescue teams in Saas Valley in the Valais canton were called last Tuesday after two climbers retreating from an aborted ascent spotted a hand and two shoes protruding from the Hohlaub glacier.

Rescuers spent two hours freeing the

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