Four die in climbing accident on the Pico de Orizaba, Mexico’s highest peak

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Four Mexican citizens died in a climbing accident on the Pico de Orizaba, which is the highest mountain the country, authorities said Sunday.

The civil defense office in the central state of Puebla said all four deaths appeared to have been caused by a fall on the volanic mountain, which is also known by its indigenous name Citlaltepetl. It soars to 18,619 feet (5,675 meters).

The office said two of the climbers were from the neighboring state of Veracruz and at least one was from Puebla. The peak stands on the border between the two states.

Photos distributed by the office showed rescue workers trying to recover the bodies down from a loose, rocky apron below an even steeper slope above the snow line.

Accidents on the peak are not uncommon, and since 2015 rescuers and climbers have found at least three mummified bodies in the snow there. They apparently were climbers lost in a 1959 avalanche.

In 2018, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico said a member of the U.S. diplomatic mission died while climbing on the mountain.

In November 2017, another American climber died and seven others were rescued on the mountain.