US climber dies scaling Mexico's highest summit

PUEBLA, Mexico: A US mountaineer died while climbing Mexico's highest summit - the inactive Citlaltepetl volcano - with bad weather hampering efforts to recover his body, official sources said Wednesday.

The unidentified climber was part of a group of four scaling the 5,610-meter mountain located on the border between the states of Puebla and Veracruz, Ruben Dario Herrera, director of Civil Protection in the state of Puebla told reporters.

"They were separated in pairs and at some point (on Tuesday) he died," Herrera said, adding his companion descended "to make contact with the US embassy and ask for help."

According to a police report accessed by reporters his companion - named only as Marck, from Denver, Colorado - said the climber died after they "fell on a crack."

He did not provide further details about the climber, but confirmed he left the body "marked" and "secure" near the top of the volcano.

Since the early hours of the morning, mountain rescuers have searched for the body - but low temperatures and strong winds have frustrated the search.

Best known as Pico de Orizaba, the volcano is regularly climbed by professional climbers from around the world, but also attracts poorly-equipped amateurs.

In 2015, the mountain gained notoriety following the discovery of two unidentified mummified bodies at an elevation of 5,200 meters - which have not been recovered due to their precarious location - and a third which is now in a local museum.