French Alps Tragedy: Avalanche leaves 9 dead, 8 injured, 5 missing; among the dead, 3 were Britons

On Thursday morning, one of the deadliest avalanches in years claimed 9 lives at French Alps; among the dead were 3 Britons, 2 Germans, 2 Swiss and 2 Spanish climbers. The natural disaster struck close to Mont Blanc range whereby a group of 28 experienced climbers were on their way up Mount Maudit. The incident left at least 8 injured while 7 rescuers frantically looked for another 7 still missing.

According to the details, the massive snow slide swept the climbers, most of them roped together, at around 5 a.m. on one of Europe’s most dangerous ascents; a 4,400m (13,100 feet) climb. Authorities confirmed today that at least three Britons were dead while two more still remain unaccounted for. Meanwhile, the French rescuers believed the disaster followed after one of the climbers reportedly dislodged a 1ft deep snow bank.

It took several hours for the rescuers to discover the bodies of death victims who ended up buried under the snow. At least two helicopters assisted countless gendarmes and other rescuers, engaged in pulling the dead from the mountain along with those who ended up injured. However, when the last reports arrived, at least two people were still missing. According to a spokesman, July heat may have been one of the factors that caused the devastating avalanche in the post-dawn hours.

He further informed that one of the survivors alerted the authorities about the tragic accident, using his mobile phone. The entire injury victims were evacuated and airlifted to various nearby hospitals while five survivors were moved safely, back down in the valley. The mountaineering group comprising of 28 people included climbers from France, Spain, Germany, Serbia, Switzerland and England.