Eight skiers, climbers and guide perish on the Alps

Five skiers, two climbers and a guide have died in three separate incidents in the Swiss Alps after bad weather swept the Valais region on Sunday. The skiers from France, Italy and Germany were among a party of 14 who failed to reach a mountain cabin more than 3,000m above sea level. Police say one died in a fall, three of hypothermia, and a fifth in hospital. Four remain in a serious condition. An alarm was raised for the climbers on Sunday but weather delayed the search. Police gave their ages as 21 and 22, AFP news agency reports. The climbing victims - their nationalities were not immediately known - were found in the Bern canton. Italian media also reported the death of an Italian mountaineering guide, Mario Castiglioni, who was leading an organised excursion in the Alps. The Swiss Alps were hit by major windstorms and falling temperatures following a period of unseasonably warm weather. The 14 skiers had set out from the Dix reststop along a route known as the Serpentine, aiming to arrive at Vignettes later that night. Caught by bad weather, they were forced to spend the night outside in the Pigne d'Arolla area. The manager of a cabin in Vignettes sent out a distress call early on Monday morning after they failed to arrive, and seven helicopters were dispatched as part of a search operation. The incident follows the death last month of three Spanish cross-country skiers who were engulfed by an avalanche in the Fiescheralp area of the Swiss Alps. On 2 April, an avalanche in the French Alps killed mountain guide and doctor Emmanuel Cauchy.