Climbing couple die on New Zealand mountain

A Japanese climber and his companion from Wellington died after being trapped in a snow cave on a New Zealand mountain for two nights in bitterly cold conditions, police said on Monday.

Police identified the pair as 31-year-old Hiroki Ogawa, a Japanese geoscientist studying in New Zealand, and Nicole Sutton, 29 who perished on Mount Taranaki on the western side of the North Island.

Sutton’s father, Keith, told a media conference, where the deaths were confirmed, that he received a text from his daughter on Sunday night saying she did not think she would survive.

Keith Sutton described Ogawa, an experienced mountaineer, as “a very special man” who tried to look after his daughter but “we know mountains are a nasty place when things go wrong”.

The climbers were in a relationship and they had hoped they would marry.