WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A U.S. climber was among two people killed in a fall on Aoraki, New Zealand's tallest peak, authorities said Wednesday.
The men were part of a four-person group climbing near the summit of Aoraki, also known as Mount Cook, on Monday. Two members were rescued by helicopter after authorities received a distress call late that night.
The other two couldn't be found. Searchers in helicopters looked for them through the night before their bodies were discovered on Tuesday morning local time.
Specialists from rescue organizations and government agencies recovered the men's bodies later on Tuesday, Police Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker said. None of the climbers has been publicly identified, but Walker said one of the dead men was from the U.S.
Authorities, she said, were working with the U.S. consulate. A coroner in New Zealand will investigate the deaths.
The other person who died was an internationally-recognized climbing guide and a member of the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association, the organization said in a statement.
Sgt. Kevin McErlain told The Timaru Herald on Tuesday the pair had been connected by a rope when they fell near the summit of Aoraki, which is on New Zealand's South Island.
The pair rescued were another mountain guide and their client, whose nationalities are not known. They were uninjured.
Aoraki is 3,724 meters (12,218 feet) high and is part of the Southern Alps, the scenic and icy mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A settlement of the same name at its base is a destination for domestic and foreign tourists.
The peak is popular among experienced climbers. Its terrain is technically difficult due to crevasses, avalanche risk, changeable weather and glacier movement.
More than 240 deaths have been recorded on the mountain and in the surrounding national park since the start of the 20th century. Dozens of those who died on the mountain have never been found.
Those disappearances include three men, two from the United States and one from Canada, who were believed to have died on Aoraki in December 2024. The Americans — Kurt Blair, 56, from Colorado and Carlos Romero, 50, of California — were certified alpine guides.
The climbers were missing for five days before New Zealand authorities halted a search for them, saying discoveries of their belongings suggested the men had fallen to their deaths.
FILE - Aoraki, also known as Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, is shown at sunset, March 30, 2014, in Twizel, New Zealand. (AP Photo/Carey J. Williams, File)
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado will miss the ceremony to award her the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Wednesday, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute said.
Machado last appeared in public 11 months ago. Nobel Institute director Kristian Berg Harpviken told public broadcaster NRK the Venezuelan opposition leader's daughter will accept the prize on Machado’s behalf. He later told the broadcaster that Machado was expected in Oslo during the day — but “unfortunately, she won’t arrive in time to attend today’s ceremony or other events.”
“We confirm that she will not attend the Nobel ceremony, but we are optimistic about her presence on the rest of the day’s agenda,” said Machado's spokesperson, Claudia Macero. She did not give information on Machado's current location.
Prominent Latin American figures planned to attend Wednesday's ceremony in a signal of solidarity with Machado, including Argentine President Javier Milei, Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, Panama's President José Raúl Mulino and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.
Machado has been living in hiding and has not been seen in public since Jan. 9, when she was briefly detained after joining supporters in a protest in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.
The 58-year-old’s win for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in her South American nation was announced on Oct. 10, and she was described as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”
Machado won an opposition primary election and intended to challenge President Nicolás Maduro in last year’s presidential election, but the government barred her from running for office. Retired diplomat Edmundo González took her place.
The lead-up to the July 28, 2024, election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations. That increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared the incumbent the winner.
González sought asylum in Spain last year after a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest.
U.N. human rights officials and many independent rights groups have expressed concerns about the situation in Venezuela, and called for Maduro to be held accountable for the crackdown on dissent.
Five past Nobel Peace Prize laureates were detained or imprisoned at the time of the award, according to the prize's official website, most recently Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi in 2023 and Belarusian human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski in 2022.
The others were Liu Xiaobo of China in 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar in 1991 and Carl von Ossietzky of Germany in 1935.
“There is a long tradition that when a Peace Prize laureate cannot be present, close family members represent them," Harpviken said. "That happened with Narges Mohammadi, and with Ales Bialiatski; both were imprisoned at the time. And the same will happen with Maria Corina Machado today. The daughter will deliver the statement her mother has written.”
Ana Corina Sosa, center, daughter of Nobel peace prize laureate Maria Machados, arrives at the Grand Hotel in Oslo on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Lise Aserud/NTB via AP)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado greets supporters during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, file)
From left: Colombia's former vice president Marta Lucía Ramírez, Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli and Magalli Meda, who are collaborators with the Nobel Prize winner, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, are seen at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Tuesday Dec. 9, 2025. (Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix via AP)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado displays vote tally sheets during a protest against the reelection of President Nicolas Maduro one month after the disputed presidential vote which she says the opposition won by a landslide, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
