© BASS 2 Alpes
© Le Dauphine
© BASS 2 Alpes
Tragic News As an Avalanche in Les Deux Alpes Claims 3 Lives
All members of the group are now accounted for
A group of 10 students and their teacher were sadly caught in an avalanche this afternoon at a little before 4pm in Les Deux Alpes. A Ukrainian skier was also sadly carried away.
The avalanche, believed to have been triggered by skiers traversing an unstable slope, happened at around 16:00 and ran down a gully in the Bellecombe sector then across the bottom of the Bellecombe 6 piste, which was closed to skiers at the time. Eyewitnesses said that despite the piste closure there were numerous skiers on the run which the avalanche hit.
Instructors called to help at the scene said it was feared that the death toll could rise, as there was no way to tell how many people were in the area at the time. Rescue efforts were hindered by the depth of the avalanche debris, which one instructor estimated at up to six metres, twice the length of the avalanche probes commonly carried by off-piste skiers.
The 10 French students caught in the avalanche were members of a group of 19 from the same college in Lyon - 3 teachers and 16 students. The Ukrainian skier was unrelated to the school group.
Hundreds of local people along with search teams were on the mountain searching through the debris. The three people known to have died were two French college students and a Ukrainian skier. One other person has been taken to hospital with serious injuries. He is believed to be one of the teachers in the school group.
As of 8pm this evening it appears that there are no more missing people. All of the group of 10 caught by the avalanche have been accounted for, and those who survived are now recovering in the resort.
Local newspaper Le Dauphine reported that Francois Hollande has this evening expressed "the solidarity of the whole nation", after hearing about the avalanche which resulted, according to a provisional death toll, at least three people, including two students of the Lycée Saint-Exupéry Lyon sadly lost their lives. "I give the bereaved my sincere condolences and assure them of the solidarity of the whole nation," Mr Hollande said, according to a statement from the Elysee.
Our thoughts are with the friends and families of those who lost their lives today.
