5 skiers found dead on mountain near Zermatt, Switzerland

Five skiers were found dead on the Adler Glacier near the resort town of Zermatt, Switzerland, Canton Valais Police announced May 25.

The victims were discovered by an Air Zermatt search flight near the Rimpfischhorn mountain, prompted by two skiers who were climbing the mountain alerting local police to four abandoned skis around 4:30 p.m. local time. Three bodies were discovered "on an avalanche cone," and the other two were found on an area of snow above them, according to the helicopter operator.

Canton Valais Police did not identify the victims in the Sunday statement, saying that the Public Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the accident.

Zermatt is one of Switzerland's premier Alpine resort towns, visited by affluent British and other European skiers, according to Reuters. It is approximately 128 miles southeast of Geneva and 127 miles northwest of Milan, Italy.