Nine mountaineers were rescued and one U.S. climber died after scaling Mexico’s tallest mountain, Mexican authorities confirmed Sunday. They were allegedly climbing Mexico’s highest summit – the inactive Citlaltepetl volcano – the third highest in North America.
Mexico has about two dozen glaciers, all of them located in the three highest mountains in the country. Citlaltepetl or Pico de Orizaba is a giant that rises to 5670 meters above sea level.
‘They were separated in pairs and at some point (on Tuesday) he died,’ Ruben Dario Herrera, director of Civil Protection in the state of Puebla said adding his companion descended ‘to make contact with the US embassy and ask for help.’
Pictured here is an aerial view of the Citlaltepetl volcano or Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico and the third highest in North America where one climber died and nine were rescued
Pictured here is Pico De Orizaba, the highest summit in Mexico
His companion – identified only as Marck, from Denver, Colorado – said the climber died after they ‘fell on a crack.’ He did not give further details about the unnamed climber, but confirmed he left the body ‘marked’ and ‘secure’ near the top of the volcano.
Jose Luis Palma, the regional civil protection coordinator for Puebla state, said conditions were extremely dangerous because of the iced-over slopes of the 18,619-foot (5,675-meter) Pico de Orizaba.
Over the weekend, both civil and military emergency teams were called out to help
He said climbers ‘are not taking the necessary precautions to climb on that ice.’
Palma said the first rescue effort was mounted on Thursday when two U.S. citizens called for help after being injured in an accident. He said one of those died but the other was brought down with only bruises.
Over the weekend, both civil and military emergency teams were called out.
The PC Puebla State confirmed the news with a tweet on the verified Twitter page
Jose Luis Palma, the regional civil protection coordinator for Puebla state, said conditions were extremely dangerous because of the iced-over slopes of the 18,619-foot (5,675-meter) Pico de Orizaba
The navy said in a statement that it was alerted on Saturday that eight mountaineers, including six Americans and two Mexicans, were in trouble on El Sarcofago glacier near Orizaba’s peak. A helicopter was sent but bad weather prevented it from finding the climbers, it said.
On Sunday, the navy team was finally able to rescue two of those climbers and a civil protection squad brought down the other six. The summit is best known as Pico de Orizaba and is regularly climbed by professionals.
However, the volcano also attracts amateurs mountaineers.
Palma said climbers ‘are not taking the necessary precautions to climb on that ice’ (pictured)