6 bodies found after avalanche near Mont Blanc in French Alps
- Among the dead were two mountain guides caught by snow tumbling down the Armancette glacier, officials said, during an off-piste skiing trip
- One person suffered slight injuries while eight others who were also swept up were unharmed
French rescue services have found a sixth body following an avalanche southwest of Mont Blanc in the French Alps and have called off their search, local authorities said on Monday.
Among the dead after Sunday’s avalanche in the middle of the day were two mountain guides caught by the snow tumbling down the Armancette glacier, the prefecture for the Haute-Savoie department said.
Emmanuel Coquand, a spokesperson for the authorities in the region, declined to comment on the identity of the six people killed.
Local media said two of them were mountain guides and the other four were their clients, all French, including a young woman and man in their 20s and a couple in their 40s.
Coquand said the six had been skiing off-piste, or out of area, when the avalanche struck. One person also suffered slight injuries while eight others also swept up were unharmed, officials said.
The avalanche covered a wide area of one km by 500 metres at an altitude of 3,500 metres (11,500 feet), said Coquand, adding that its causes were being investigated.
No avalanche warning had been issued for the region by weather authority Meteo France, but a combination of warmth and wind may have been behind the disaster, the prefecture said.
Emergency responders had deployed a helicopter as well as mountain rescue dogs to the scene, although the prefecture warned a further avalanche could not be ruled out.
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The operation was suspended on Sunday evening, but resumed at 7am local time on Monday.
“I think it’s the most deadly avalanche this season,” said Contamines-Montjoie mayor Francois Barbier.
Two brothers died in an avalanche on the same glacier in 2014, both experienced climbers in their 20s.
