An avalanche on Sunday that occurred on a glacier in Contamines-Montjoie (near Mont Blanc) has led to the deaths of six people after another body was found in the snow on Easter Monday, French investigators announced.
“We have just found the sixth victim,” said Bonneville prosecutor Karline Bouisset. The body is likely to belong to the partner of a 39-year-old woman found dead on Sunday evening. The couple were reportedly from the suburbs of Lyon.
A press conference with the local prosecutor’s office, the prefecture, and emergency services was scheduled to take place sometime in the morning in Chamonix.
The skiers were part of a ski tour along a classic route on the Mont Blanc massif. The conditions were very good and no particular weather warning was issued for that day.
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Without warning, a large avalanche occurred on the Armancette glacier, on the heights of Contamines-Montjoie. The snowfall was visible from the ski resorts. The avalanche was 1,600 metres in length and 500 metres wide, the Haute-Savoie prefecture said.
The avalanche surprised “three groups of skiers, who were each “supervised by one or two mountain guides.” Among the deceased are two guides from the Saint-Gervais winter guide company, born in 1974 and 1984, the National Union of Mountain Guides announced.
Furthermore, a young woman from Beaufortain and a young man from Lille, both in their twenties, were among the killed. In total, four casual skiers and two guides are among the dead.
