VANCOUVER, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Police said on Monday that three hikers died in a fall on Joffre Peak in the backcountry north of Pemberton in Canada's western province of British Columbia, and their bodies have been recovered by a local search and rescue team.
Police said the three hikers were a male and female in their 30s from the Lower Mainland in B.C. and a female in her late 20s who was an international visitor.
Police said they learned of the incident in the remote backcountry location near Joffre Peak, in Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, around 1:30 a.m. local time on Monday.
Initially the victims were thought to be climbers, but police said they appeared to be walking up the central couloir -- a steep narrow chute or gully on the side of a mountain -- wearing crampons.
Police said the three hikers had been part of a larger group, and other hikers alerted police when the three didn't arrive at the camp as planned.
Police and Pemberton Search and Rescue launched a search using a helicopter at first light Monday morning and finally returned with the three bodies.
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