A 50-year-old skier died Friday after being buried by an avalanche during a supervised hike in Savoie.
"The accident occurred at 12:45 pm in the town of Valmeinier, at a place called Pas des Griffes, on a northeast slope, between 2300 and 2100 m above sea level," said the gendarmerie peloton of high mountain (PGHM) of Modane.
“A 50-year-old holidaymaker was buried under a meter of snow. His excursion companions had managed to locate him and had started to free him when the emergency services arrived but the latter failed to revive him, ”added the rescuer.
As the weather was bad, the whole group was evacuated by helicopter. An investigation, entrusted to the PGHM of Savoie by the parquet of Albertville, was opened to understand the circumstances of the accident. An “avalanche” judicial expertise was also ordered. No specific alert had been issued by the authorities.
Brazilian dies of heart attack
Shortly after, around 1:35 p.m., a second team from the PGHM of Modane left for reinforcement in Courchevel, where a 60-year-old Brazilian had a heart attack and was taken care of by the resort's rescue patrollers.
On arrival of the medical reinforcement "... the team could only note the death of the man," said the PGHM. Again, an investigation is opened and entrusted to the PGHM of Savoie.