In brief
In a tragic series of incidents on Wednesday, five skiers were killed in the French Alps due to two separate avalanches, as confirmed by local authorities. The first avalanche occurred in Val-Cenis, Savoie, resulting in the deaths of four Norwegian skiers, while a Swiss skier was killed in a second avalanche in the Haute-Savoie region, close to Chamonix.
According to reports, three of the Norwegian skiers died instantly in the snowfall, whereas a fourth skier, a woman, succumbed to severe hypothermia and cardiac arrest after being rushed to a hospital. They were part of a group of seven, with the remaining skiers uninjured. Jacques Arnoux, the mayor of Val-Cenis, emphasized that all group members were equipped with avalanche beacons during their off-piste skiing adventure, which is known to be much riskier than skiing on designated slopes. "The avalanche was significant and triggered outside the managed ski area," Mayor Arnoux stated, underscoring the inherent dangers of such excursions. Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a Swiss woman in her thirties died while skiing in the Mont Blanc massif, alongside her brother, who was hospitalized for evaluation, and her father, who escaped without injury. Remarkably, all three were also utilizing anti-avalanche airbags while skiing off-piste. This news comes just a day after a 55-year-old Brazilian-Portuguese skier lost his life in a significant avalanche on another off-piste slope in Mont Blanc. With these events highlighting the perils of skiing in unregulated areas, authorities and ski enthusiasts alike are urged to exercise heightened caution.
