The lights from their headlamps were last seen at around 22:10 Saturday night working up the mountain by workers of the Aiguille du Midi lift station. The PGHM were called when the two groups hadn't reached their destination and a search was begun. The Vogler route finishes with the end of the Arete des Cosmiques and the lift station, so rescuers started from lift station to rappel to the last point where the headlamps were seen. They found 4 ice axes around 2:00 Sunday morning. It wasn't until a couple hours later that rescue helicopters found the bodies of the 4 climbers at the base of the Glacier Rond, approximately 1000m below. The victims, aged between 32-40 years old, all Italian, seem to have been climbing independently. The cause of the accident is unknown at present and the gendarmes are investigating this tragic accident.
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