Mother and two adult children die in hiking accident in Swiss mountains

Family from Netherlands found near Rochers-de-Naye mountain after being reported missing
The family, from the Netherlands, were found near the Rochers de Naye mountain (pictured)
AFP via Getty Images
Daniel Keane10 February 2024

A mother and her two adult children have been found dead in Switzerland following a hiking accident, police have said.

The family, from the Netherlands, had been reported missing on Thursday after going walking in the Vaud Alps.

They were found near the Rochers-de-Naye mountain on Friday morning around 300 metres below a steep path.

The 57-year-old woman, her 25-year-old daughter and her 22-year-old son had set off on a hike on Wednesday morning and had not been heard from since then.

Police said the mother and daughter had been on vacation in Switzerland while the son lived in the region.

The three victims have not been identified, in line with Swiss privacy rules.

Last May, three Dutch mountaineers who had been missing for days were found dead in the Swiss Alps.

Two men aged 32 and 40 and a 30-year-old woman had been hiking in the southern Swiss canton of Valais when they disappeared, according to local police.

A British man was also found dead last year during a climb on Mont Blanc in France.

The man is understood to have been hiking when he plunged 160ft to his death, several news outlets reported, citing police in the Chamonix region.

He was hiking on a “difficult” track at a spot known as Nid d’Aigle - or ‘eagle’s nest’ - near the Bionnassay glacier when the tragedy happened, according to MailOnline.

The number of hikers dying while walking in the Alps has doubled in recent years, according to figures from the Swiss Accident Prevention Bureau.

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