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Search ends for Japanese climbers on Mount McKinley
ANCHORAGE — Four Japanese climbers who died on Alaska's Mount McKinley were likely pushed by an avalanche into the same crevasse where one climber survived.
National Park Service spokeswoman Kris Fister says rangers believe the crevasse is the final resting place for 64-year-old Yoshiaki Kato, 50-year-old Masako Suda, 56-year-old Michiko Suzuki and 63-year-old Tamao Suzuki.
The shallow avalanche also pushed 69-year-old Hitoshi Ogi into the crevasse early Wednesday morning. He was attached to the other climbers by a rope that broke.
He climbed 60 feet out of the crevasse and reached a base camp Thursday.
A ranger Saturday found the other end of the rope in the crevasse about 100 feet below the surface.
Fister says the risk of falling ice made it too dangerous to continue a recovery attempt.
