Two hikers died on Sunday after falling from a rock wall in the Chorde corridor, near the town of Servoz (Haute-Savoie), several local media reported.
Emergency services were alerted by witnesses around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, indicates France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Dispatched to the site by helicopter, they spotted two inanimate bodies in the corridor – a very steep and reputedly technical route.
A doctor later confirmed the deaths of the two men.
Their identity is not known at this time.
An investigation was opened and entrusted to the high mountain gendarmerie platoons (PGHM) of Chamonix to determine the causes of the accident.
“A high number of accidents”
The prefect of Haute-Savoie called for vigilance on Friday due to the conditions in the mountains.
“The weather conditions of recent weeks have led to the formation of a layer of hard and icy snow, particularly on the slopes least exposed to the sun, making falls particularly dangerous,” he warned.
#MountainPrevention 🗻 |
The prefect of Haute-Savoie calls on all mountain users to be extremely vigilant this weekend given the modest snowfall currently in the department ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/xk8Y1FwylF
— Prefect of Haute-Savoie (@Prefet74) February 2, 2024
“The last few weekends have been particularly marked by a high number of sliding accidents, often accompanied by severe or even dramatic trauma,” he also recalled.
An eight-year-old child died on January 27 after a fall in the Grand-Bornand resort, where he was skiing with a helmet on a blue slope.