3 Skiers Dead In Avalanche in The French Alps
Val d’Isère, France — Three skiers were killed Friday after an avalanche struck the Val d’Isère ski resort in the French Alps. The slide hit the mountainside in southeastern France at about 11:30 a.m. local time.
Two of the victims were British, the third victim was a French national who was skiing alone high on the slope when he was swept away by the avalanche according to Cedric Bonnevie, a spokesperson for the resort’s slope management department.
The two British victims were part of a group of five skiers accompanied by a professional instructor. The group was positioned lower on the mountain and did not see the avalanche approaching.
The skiers were traveling off-piste at the time of the incident. Off-piste skiing was “strongly discouraged” according to a notice on the resort’s website citing a “very high avalanche risk.”
Some reports indicated that as many as six skiers may have been caught in the slide, though that number has not been confirmed by authorities.
France’s national weather service, Météo-France, had issued a red avalanche warning Thursday for the Savoie region, which borders Italy, amid heightened danger conditions following recent snowfall.
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