Updated

German authorities say rescue crews working to recover the body of a mountain climber in the Bavarian Alps stumbled upon a second, partially skeletal, corpse in the treacherous terrain.

Police told the dpa news agency Friday that the initial operation was to recover the body of a 52-year-old German man, which had been spotted the day before by another climber on the mountain in a location about 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) above sea level. Police say he appeared to have died in a fall, and it was not yet clear how long his body had been there.

As they were working, they found the second body in the same area. It has not yet been identified.

Both bodies were taken down the mountain by helicopter and the investigation is ongoing.