Climber gets jewels from plane crash

A treasure trove of emeralds, rubies and sapphires buried for decades on a glacier off France’s Mont Blanc has been shared between a mountaineer, who discovered them in 2013, and local authorities. The precious stones had remained hidden in a metal box that was onboard an Air India plane that crashed some 50 years ago. “The stones have been shared this week in two equal lots valued at about €150,000 each,” mayor of Chamonix, Eric Fournier, said. The climber told a local newspaper that he did not “regret having been honest”. Two Air India planes crashed into Mont Blanc in 1950 and 1966. Authorities believe the stones are likely to have come from the January 24, 1966 Mumbai to New York flight.