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WELLINGTON: A Japanese climber died just hours before a helicopter came to rescue him and a companion trapped for six days by a fierce storm near the summit of New Zealand's highest mountain, police said. Mountain guide Kiyoshi Ikenouchi, 49, died on the 3,754 meter (12,316 feet) high Mount Cook early Friday, while his client Hideaki Nara, 51, was rescued several hours later. Police Inspector Dave Gaskin said rescuers had brought Nara and the body of Ikenouchi out when weather improved enough to allow a helicopter to reach the peak of the mountain, also known as Aoraki.
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