Body of man who fell into volcano recovered

SAN FRANCISCO - Rescuers have recovered the body of a 52-year-old man who died after falling 500 meters into the Mount Saint Helens volcano in the US state of Washington, authorities said.

Hope had been fading for the avid climber after helicopter crews reported that they had not observed any signs of movement.

“The pilot did a reconnaissance flight, got up relatively close, could not see any movement,” chief Tom McDowell of the North Coast Rescue Team told Good Morning America. “He didn’t make any effort to signal the helicopter.”

The hiker, Joseph Bohlig, had apparently been posing for a picture near the lip of the volcano when a snow cornice he had been standing on gave way, sending him tumbling down the rocky slope of the caldera.

“It would have been a very significant, injurious fall on the way down,” McDowell said.

Two attempts to reach Bohlig Monday by helicopter were called off due to weather, and strong winds hampered efforts Tuesday by a military helicopter.

Local reports said that when rescuers eventually reached the body, it was buried in snow and had to be removed using shovels.

Bohlig had reportedly climbed the 2,549-metre peak 68 times before. The volcano last erupted in 1980.