6 Missing on Mount Rainier Feared Dead

Helicopter crews spot gear at bottom of 3K-foot drop
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 1, 2014 8:44 AM CDT
6 Missing on Mount Rainier Feared Dead
Mount Rainier, where six climbers attempting to summit, went missing and are believed dead after search attempts were suspended Saturday, May 31, 2014.   (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Bettina Hansen)

Four climbers and two guides who went missing last week almost 13,000 feet up Mount Rainier are now presumed dead after rescuers found their gear at the bottom of a 3,000-foot drop in an area prone to avalanches, reports NBC. "There is every indication there is not a viable chance of survival," says a Mount Rainier National Park ranger, calling the area "incredibly hazardous. We are not able to get into that area; it would put our staffers on the ground at risk." The group last made contact via sat phone at 6pm Wednesday; a search began midday Friday when no further contact had been made. Helicopter crews spotted the gear from the air yesterday. (More Mt. Rainier stories.)

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