MILAN (AP) — A 56-year-old Canadian woman has died after being caught in a sudden snowstorm in the Italian Dolomites. Her companion was treated for severe hypothermia, the Italian Alpine Rescue Corps said Friday.
The two climbers, exhausted and suffering from hypothermia, called for help Thursday night after being hit by the snowstorm about two kilometers (more than a mile) from a mountain hut. The hikers were not identified by name or hometown.
Rescuers reached them, but bad weather thwarted two attempts to evacuate the woman by helicopter, whose condition deteriorated. She later died on the mountain.
Rescue workers set up a tent, sheltering the 56-year-old male hiker until the storm passes and a helicopter can rescue him early Friday. He is being treated at a hospital in the northern Italian city of Bolzano.
