Two people died Thursday following an avalanche in the Mont-Blanc massif, while a third suffered a fatal fall in the Ecrins massif in Isère, authorities said.
An avalanche was triggered early in the afternoon in an off-piste area near the Saint-Gervais-les-Bains ski area in the Mont-Blanc massif, we learned from the prefecture of Haute-Savoie.
Five people unhurt
A flow that started at an altitude of around 2,300 meters descended 400 meters, involving eight people, according to the chief of staff of the prefect of Haute-Savoie, Animya N’Tchandy. The toll is “two deceased victims, one lightly injured and five other people who are unharmed”. An investigation has been opened, she added.
In Isère, a young man of 31, who went “off the trail with a friend to go see the chamois” fell 500 meters from a rocky ridge in the commune of Chantepérier in the Ecrins massif, indicated the PGHM ( high mountain gendarmerie platoon) from Grenoble. The other hiker, aged 26, was able to be evacuated and was unhurt.