Search called off for missing Swiss skier after mountain tragedy

GENEVA : A search for the final missing member of a group of six skiers trapped last weekend on a Swiss mountain has been called off, police from the canton of Valais said on Thursday.

A search party had already recovered the bodies of five of the people who were caught in severe weather on the 3,710 metre-high Tete Blanche mountain on Saturday on the Zermatt-Arolla path. All five were members of the same family.

Helicopters subsequently combed the area to find the sixth person, a 28-year-old woman, who police said had originally put in an emergency call to say the group were in trouble.

"After consulting with her family, the search has now been stopped," police said in a statement.