Turkish climber’s body found in French Alps 26 years later

KAYSERİ

A Turkish climber’s body has been found 26 years later after he went missing in the French Alps, Demirören News Agency reported on Oct. 5. The necklace Hasan Tarım was wearing at the time of his death reportedly helped his family identify him.

Tarım went missing in 1992 when he was 21 years old. His body was found by a group of mountaineers in August of this year and it was later returned to to Germany by Italian officials, and is now on its way to Turkey. Tarım’s family living in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri’s Sarız district is preparing to initiate the funeral procedures after receiving the body.

Tarım’s cousin Ali Tarım (53) told the agency the family had put so much effort for the deceased mountaineer to be found. “He had climbed up the Alp mountains with a German friend of his in 1992. Then, we received information that two friends had slipped from a glacier and fell on their way to the summit and no one had heard from them since then. Following this news, Hasan’s father rented 200 mountaineers and a helicopter and joined the search efforts. He has spent almost all of his money on finding his son,” Ali Tarım said.

“It has been reported to us that 26 years later, my cousin’s body has been found along with his German friend’s by another group of mountaineers who went up to climb the Alps. His body was brought from Italy to Germany, along with the body of his German friend,” Ali Tarım said.

“Since the body had stayed under the glacier, it had not perished too much. Upon the news that he had been found, my brother Yusuf went to Germany. They identified him by his necklace,” Ali Tarım said, adding that the body would be brought to Kayseri over the weekend, with the family laying the deceased mountaineer to rest.