France: Avalanche near Mont Blanc summit kills many

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed that four people were killed and many others injured in an avalanche that occurred on April 9 near the summit of Mont Blanc, located in southeastern France and in the Alps.

Mont Blanc peak. Illustration photo: AFP

On Twitter, Mr. Darmanin announced: "Rescuers are still working" and the above casualty figure is only "provisional".

Meanwhile, the Haute-Savoie prefecture in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region said that in addition to the four fatalities, nine others were “involved” in the avalanche, which was 1 km long and 100 meters wide. The nine people, whose identities have not been determined, were traveling near the Armancette glacier either individually or in groups. Previously, the French National Meteorological Service (Meteo France) had not issued any avalanche warnings in the area.

Rescuers have deployed a helicopter and several specialized mountain rescue dogs to the scene and are still combing the avalanche area for victims still buried, although the Haute-Savoie provincial government has not ruled out the risk of further avalanches.

In 2014, two brothers from the same family were killed in an avalanche on the same Armancette glacier. The two men, both in their 20s, were experienced mountaineers.

Previously, on April 8, nine mountain climbers were injured in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.

The avalanche occurred near the 4,000-meter-high Alphubel mountain in the Saas-Fee area of Wallis, southwestern Switzerland, near the Italian border. The location is close to Switzerland's famous Matterhorn mountain and the Zermatt ski resort. Rescuers were immediately deployed to the scene and rescued 16 climbers, of whom nine were injured and taken to hospital.

Swiss authorities have recorded 15 deaths in avalanches from January 10 last year to the end of March this year in the "land of watches".

According to Trung Kien (Vietnam News Agency)

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