Authorities identify Catalan climbers who died on Peruvian peak

Three Catalans who died on Monday alongside their local guide while climbing a snow-capped peak in the Andes in Peru have been identified by the authorities.

On Tuesday, sources in the government's foreign department confirmed that the climbers were from towns near Barcelona, two from Sant Cugat del Vallès and one from Cerdanyola.

How the incident happened

The three climbers and their guide were swept away by falling ice while coming down from the peak of the 5,000-meter high Nevado Mateo mountain in the Carhuaz province.

A fourth climber, also from Cerdanyola, survived the accident and raised the alarm, and a  mountain rescue team was dispatched to the Ancash region to recover the bodies.

One of the victims, Sergi Porteros Villar, played for the Sant Cugat handball club, which on Tuesday expressed its support for the families of Porteros and the other two victims.

In a statement, Peru's Association of Mountain Guides said that it had coordinated with police in the efforts to recover the dead climbers.

The association said that when the rescue team arrived at the site of the accident, one of the climbers was still alive, but died on the way back down the mountain.