WORLD
Remains of climber who disappeared from Swiss mountain in 1986 are discovered more than three decades later on melting glacier
Baku, August 3, AZERTAC
The body of a climber who disappeared nearly 40 years ago while trekking by a famous Swiss mountain has been discovered, according to Daily Mail.
Mountaineers walking across the Theodul Glacier in Zermatt, southern Switzerland, close to the famous Matterhorn mountain, were left shocked after they stumbled upon human remains and hiking gear in July.
The remains were found to have belonged to a then-38-year-old German mountaineer who has been missing since September 1986, Swiss police said after the remains were sent to be examined.
Valais Cantonal Police declined to name the missing German, but said that a DNA analysis run by scientists at a nearby hospital was able to confirm his identity.
It is not currently known exactly how or when he died, and police said that their search for him at the time of his disappearance was 'unsuccessful.'
Alarmingly, the force said that the melting of glaciers was likely to reveal the locations of the remains of mountaineers who went missing decades ago.
'The retreat of the glaciers brings to light an increasing number of missing alpinists who were reported missing several decades ago,' a police statement read.
The discovery of the German hiker comes as the family of a British hiker who went missing more than a month ago in the Swiss Alps have released footage of his trip in an attempt to identify the people he was with before he disappeared.
Chemical engineer Aidan Roche, 29, was last from on June 22 while hiking in the famous Grindelward area of the Swiss Alps near the end of two-week trip.
His brother Connor Roche, 32, said: 'We're all missing Aidan so much - we just need him to come home.
'The hardest thing that me and my family are dealing with is the unknown.'
'You can't help but imagine the worst of things sometimes - especially with it being this long since he went missing. But then you feel guilty for imagining those things.
'Right now we just need more information - anything that can help us find him and bring him home,' he added.