Glacier Melt Reveals Bodies Of Two Hikers Missing For Decades

The bodies of two Belgian mountaineers who went missing in the Swiss Alps more than three decades ago have been found, officials said.

Police in the southwestern Valais region, which has a database of people listed as missing over the last century, said the retreat of glaciers has led to the emergence of remains of people who went missing decades earlier. 

Late last month, a hiker discovered human remains that turned up following the



melting of the Trift glacier south of the city of Lucerne, prompting a recovery operation, the regional government said Wednesday.

DNA tests conducted at a Valais hospital determined that the remains were those of two Belgian hikers, aged 39 and 41 at the time, who went missing near the Weissmies mountain -- dozens of kilometers to the south -- in 1992. Such discoveries are nothing new but have become more frequent as Switzerland's glaciers have melted at an increasing rate.