Five missing skiers found dead in Swiss Alps as search continues for sixth person

The bodies of five out of six skiers were found in the Swiss Alps on Sunday after they were reported missing a day earlier during a ski tour that departed from the Alpine town of Zermatt, the BBC reported.

A major search and rescue operation was launched on Saturday after the group, which had set off from Zermatt, went missing near the 3,706m high Tete Blanche mountain.

Zermatt, which is home to the famous Matterhorn mountain, is located near Arolla along the Swiss-Italian border

While local authorities are still searching for a sixth person, they revealed that the five skiers were found at 21:20 local time "without any signs of life."

Swiss Valais canton police previously revealed that the skiers were all Swiss nationals, and ranged in age from 21 to 58 years old.

Local police have alerted teams on both sides of the route but severe weather conditions have hindered the operation.

Zermatt's air rescue service head, Anjan Truffer, stated that "flying is not an option" in the current weather as there are "very strong winds, heavy snow, high avalanche danger, and zero visibility".

He suggested that the group may have been overcome by the bad weather, rather than struck by an avalanche, as they went missing on a low-risk route.

Truffer also revealed that the last signal from the group was recorded overnight which was "not verbal" but allowed rescue services to get an idea of their location.

The Zermatt to Arolla route, which is part of the popular 120km "Haute Route" from Zermatt to Chamonix, is suitable for experienced skiers, and can take several days.