An avalanche has claimed at least five lives in the French Alps.
The rescue workers are on duty.
Update from April 10, 10:20 a.m .
: The death toll after the terrible avalanche in the Mont Blanc massif on Sunday is increasing.
Another body has been recovered, local media report on Monday (April 10).
Five people, including two mountain guides, died in an avalanche accident.
At least one person is still missing, they say.
The accident happened on Sunday morning at the Armancette Glacier.
The glacier is located in the municipality of Contamines-Montjoie near Mont Blanc.
According to the prefecture, the avalanche was 1,000 meters long and 100 meters wide.
The rescue teams also used helicopters and sniffer dogs to search for victims.
Update from April 9, 7:33 p.m .:
In France, after the large avalanche near Mont Blanc, people are still looking for buried people.
According to the regional newspaper
Le Dauphine,
the search will continue until around 8 p.m., especially from the air.
After that, the search will be suspended until Monday, 7 a.m.
At the time of the avalanche, there were no photos or detailed video recordings of the mountain, according to Sub-Prefect Emmanuel Coquard, according to the report.
"Therefore, we do not know how many people were hit by the avalanche," he continued.
Large avalanche in France's Alps: at least four dead
First report from April 9th:
Chamonix – Another avalanche accident in the Alps.
This time in France.
At least four people died in a descent on Sunday afternoon in the French Alps near Chamonix.
According to initial findings, several people were also injured.
France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin wrote on Twitter on Sunday afternoon.
The rescue work is still in progress.
According to Darmanin, the avalanche fell around noon on the Armancette glacier near Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border.
The Mont Blanc (also written Mont Blanc, Italian Monte Bianco, in German "White Mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps.
Darmanin thanked the rescue workers.
"I thank them for their commitment," said the minister.
He commemorates the victims and their families.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also spoken out: "We are thinking of you and your families.
Our rescue services are mobilized to find people who are still stuck in the snow.
Our thoughts accompany them, too,” he wrote via Twitter.
Avalanche in the Alps of enormous size
According to the French local newspaper
Le Dauphine,
the avalanche report was received around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Accordingly, from the beginning there was talk of a "big avalanche" in Contamines-Montjoie on the Armancette glacier.
In the subsequent rescue operation, two rescue helicopters were used early on.
It was later revealed that the avalanche was about 500 meters wide and fell over 1,500 meters.
The Contamines-Montjoie ski area published video recordings of the avalanche via Twitter, which show the enormous size and force of the snow masses.
"Big exit this morning... Be careful offpiste," the clip's post read.
It was later added that the avalanche is said to have started in the Domes de Miage ski area.
Large coulée depuis les Dômes ce matin ...
Prudence en hors piste pic.twitter.com/9Hxzj9qvHp
— ⛷ Domaine Skiable des Contamines-Montjoie 🏂 SECMH (@domaineskiable) April 9, 2023
According to the local newspaper
Le Dauphine,
four dead and one injured are currently confirmed.
Eight people are said to have survived the avalanche unharmed.
Only on Saturday did a large avalanche go off in Switzerland, burying 16 people.