An avalanche has claimed at least four lives in the French Alps. Rescue workers are on duty.
Update from April 9, 7:33 PM: In France, people are still being searched for after a major avalanche near Mont Blanc. According to the regional newspaper Dauphine One wants to keep searching until about eight in the evening, especially from the air. After that, the search is suspended until Monday at 7 am.
The report stated that at the time of the avalanche, there were no detailed photos or video recordings of the mountain. “So we don’t know how many people the avalanche hit.”
First report from April 9: Chamonix – Another avalanche event in the Alps. This time in France. At least four people died in a mountain Sunday afternoon in the French Alps near Chamonix. According to preliminary results, many people were also infected. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter Sunday afternoon.
Massive avalanche in the French Alps: at least four dead
Rescue work is still underway. According to Darmanin, the avalanche hit around noon on the Armancet glacier near Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border. Mont Blanc (also spelled Mont Blanc, Italian Monte Bianco, German for “White Mountain”) is the highest mountain in the Alps. Darmanin thanked the rescue workers.
“I thank them for their commitment,” said the minister. It commemorates the victims and their families. French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke, saying: “We are thinking of you and your families. Our rescue services are mobilized to find people who are still stuck in the snow. Our thoughts are with them too,” he wrote via Twitter.
An avalanche in the Alps of enormous size
According to the local French newspaper Dauphine The avalanche report was received around 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Accordingly, there was talk from the start of a “major avalanche” in Contamines-Montjoie on the Armancette glacier. In the subsequent rescue operation, two early rescue helicopters were used.
It was later revealed that the avalanche was 500 meters wide and fell more than 1,500 meters.
The Contamines-Montjoie ski area posted videos of the avalanche to Twitter, which show the sheer size and strength of the snowpacks. “Big exit this morning…be careful out of sight,” the clip’s post read. It was later added that the avalanche had started in the Domes de Miage ski area.
According to the local newspaper Dauphine Four confirmed killed and one wounded. Eight people were said to have survived the avalanche unharmed.
Just on Saturday, a major avalanche occurred in Switzerland, burying 16 people.
