Search for Mount Harvey hikers ends in tragedy

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LIONS BAY (NEWS 1130) – A search manager says rescue crews have found a fifth body at the scene of a snow slide on a mountain north of Vancouver.

Martin Colwell says the body was located Sunday afternoon, several hours after the bodies of four other hikers were recovered.

He says it appears the hikers were crossing an unstable ledge of snow on Mount Harvey on Saturday when the snow collapsed.

Colwell called the incident “a great tragedy,” saying the hikers fell 500 metres to their deaths.

A sixth hiker with the group had fallen behind and when he arrived at the summit, the other five had disappeared, leading him to alert police.

Colwell says counselling services have been made available to the surviving hiker, families of the victims and rescue workers.

He says about 70 people volunteered to help with the recovery efforts, making it possible to give families closure within a day of accident.

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