Lost wreck and bodies emerge from glacier in extreme heat to solve 50 year mystery

It has been an incredibly hot summer across Europe, and these record temperatures are helping to unearth some startling secrets.

Switzerland is a country best known for its snowy, mountainous landscapes, along with the famous Aletsch Glacier.

The glacier is located in the Canton of Valais, located in the southern part of the country. It is here where the wreckage of from a plane crash which took place more than 50 years ago have been discovered.

Exceptionally high temperatures have melted the glacier to such an extent that the previously unseen wreckage and human remains, were brought above the ice for the first time.

The Metro via Swiss regional newspaper 24 Heures, reported that the bodies were those of a teacher, chief medical officer and his son, with the trio all hailing from Zurich.

It was a chance discovery by a mountain guide, as hiking routes were changed due to the ongoing summer melting of the snow and ice.

A statement from the local officers read: “Investigations have determined that the parts were from the wreckage of a Piper Cherokee, registration HB-OYL, which crashed at this location on June 30, 1968.

“Recovery work will be undertaken as soon as possible.”

The unrelenting heat has seen blankets being used to cover huge swathes of snow to combat the rapid thawing on the Swiss Alps.

It has led to other remains being discovered, after a similar finding at the Stockji glacier.

The identity of the person has yet to be revealed, but the Valais police face a sizeable task ahead, as their list of missing people is reportedly three pages long.

A report from the Guardian claims that police are trying to identify the individual concerned and the remains of another person frozen a week later.

The bones were found on the Chessjen glacier, on an old hiking path which hasn’t been used in 10 years.

Warden Dario Andenmatten was quoted in the Guardian story, and he explained that the pair of walkers only found the bones after mistakenly using an old map.

Andenmatten believed that the person would have died in either the 1970S or 80s. Luc Lechanoine, is said to have told Blick newspaper that the clothes found were neon-coloured in a corpse that was largely well-preserved.

Topics: News

James Hilsum