Three mountaineers from the United States and Canada were reported missing on Monday after they did not return from an attempt to summit Aoraki/Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain, the local police said. Severe weather conditions were obstructing the search.

       The two Americans, Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, and a Canadian whom officials did not name, did not show up to a charter flight that had been scheduled to return them from the mountain Monday morning, Vicki Walker, the commander of the local police department, said in a statement.

       Search teams found several climbing-related items that they believed belonged to the three men, she said. They had to suspend their search because of severe weather and would probably not be able to resume until Thursday, she said.

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