WELLINGTON, New Zealand — 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.

Specialists from rescue organizations and government agencies recovered the men’s bodies later 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 w

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