VIDEO: Massive Avalanche Kills at Least 6 People in French Alps
By Jennifer Hauser, Sana Noor Haq, Saskya Vandoorne and Xiaofei Xu, CNN(CNN) – At least six people were killed and several others injured in an avalanche that struck the French Alps over the weekend.Emergency workers were deployed after the incident at the Armancette glacier near Mont Blanc in southeast France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted on Sunday. Rescue work is ongoing.Clouds of snow rolled down the mountainside, according to video footage shared by Reuters that was tweeted by a nearby ski station, Contamines-Montjoie.RELATED: 7 Dead After Tourists Swept Away in AvalancheThe avalanche occurred at the glacier on Sunday. The conditions on the mountain were described as “not particularly alarming,” with the president of France’s mountain guide union, Dorian Labaeye, telling France Info that he did not know how such a tragedy could have happened in “good conditions.”The avalanche spread across an area of 1 kilometer by 500 meters, at an altitude of 3,500 meters (11,480 feet), according to a spokesperson for the local authorities of Haute-Savoie, Reuters reported. \u201c\ud83d\udea8\ud83c\udfd4\ufe0fCe matin en Haute-Savoie (France), une terrible avalanche de 500 m\u00e8tres de large et de 1500 m\u00e8tres de d\u00e9nivel\u00e9 s'est d\u00e9clench\u00e9e dans le secteur des D\u00f4mes de Miage. Le bilan provisoire est de 4 morts et un bless\u00e9. Sinc\u00e8res condol\u00e9ances aux victimes et \u00e0 leurs proches...\u201d — the_8000m (@the_8000m) 1681051241 The people swept away by the avalanche were backcountry skiing and the identities of the victims are being confirmed.The mayor of the town of Contamines-Montjoie, Francois Barbier, told Agence France-Presse it was “the most deadly avalanche this season.”“It is a very big avalanche on a busy route at this time of the year,” Labaeye said, adding, “We have tens of thousands of people doing ski touring at the moment in the Alps. There are usually lots of people on the Easter weekend and conditions are usually pretty stable at this time of year.”Labaeye said he did not believe there were any other victims. He said the group impacted was equipped with an avalanche detector, shovels, and probes, which he said “facilitates the work of the rescuers.” \u201cAu glacier d\u2019Armancette dans les Alpes, une avalanche a fait des victimes. Nous pensons \u00e0 elles, ainsi qu\u2019\u00e0 leurs familles. Pour retrouver les personnes encore bloqu\u00e9es dans la neige, nos forces de secours sont mobilis\u00e9es. Nos pens\u00e9es les accompagnent, elles aussi.\u201d — Emmanuel Macron (@Emmanuel Macron) 1681049522 French President Emmanuel Macron sent his condolences to the victims and their loved ones.“At the Armancette glacier in the Alps, an avalanche has caused casualties. We are thinking of them and their families. Our rescue forces have been mobilized to find people still stuck in the snow. Our thoughts are with them too,” Macron tweeted on Sunday.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
By Jennifer Hauser, Sana Noor Haq, Saskya Vandoorne and Xiaofei Xu, CNN
(CNN) – At least six people were killed and several others injured in an avalanche that struck the French Alps over the weekend.
Emergency workers were deployed after the incident at the Armancette glacier near Mont Blanc in southeast France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted on Sunday. Rescue work is ongoing.
Clouds of snow rolled down the mountainside, according to video footage shared by Reuters that was tweeted by a nearby ski station, Contamines-Montjoie.
RELATED: 7 Dead After Tourists Swept Away in Avalanche
The avalanche occurred at the glacier on Sunday. The conditions on the mountain were described as “not particularly alarming,” with the president of France’s mountain guide union, Dorian Labaeye, telling France Info that he did not know how such a tragedy could have happened in “good conditions.”
The avalanche spread across an area of 1 kilometer by 500 meters, at an altitude of 3,500 meters (11,480 feet), according to a spokesperson for the local authorities of Haute-Savoie, Reuters reported.
\u201c\ud83d\udea8\ud83c\udfd4\ufe0fCe matin en Haute-Savoie (France), une terrible avalanche de 500 m\u00e8tres de large et de 1500 m\u00e8tres de d\u00e9nivel\u00e9 s'est d\u00e9clench\u00e9e dans le secteur des D\u00f4mes de Miage. Le bilan provisoire est de 4 morts et un bless\u00e9. Sinc\u00e8res condol\u00e9ances aux victimes et \u00e0 leurs proches...\u201d— the_8000m (@the_8000m) 1681051241
The people swept away by the avalanche were backcountry skiing and the identities of the victims are being confirmed.
The mayor of the town of Contamines-Montjoie, Francois Barbier, told Agence France-Presse it was “the most deadly avalanche this season.”
“It is a very big avalanche on a busy route at this time of the year,” Labaeye said, adding, “We have tens of thousands of people doing ski touring at the moment in the Alps. There are usually lots of people on the Easter weekend and conditions are usually pretty stable at this time of year.”
Labaeye said he did not believe there were any other victims. He said the group impacted was equipped with an avalanche detector, shovels, and probes, which he said “facilitates the work of the rescuers.”
\u201cAu glacier d\u2019Armancette dans les Alpes, une avalanche a fait des victimes. Nous pensons \u00e0 elles, ainsi qu\u2019\u00e0 leurs familles. Pour retrouver les personnes encore bloqu\u00e9es dans la neige, nos forces de secours sont mobilis\u00e9es. Nos pens\u00e9es les accompagnent, elles aussi.\u201d— Emmanuel Macron (@Emmanuel Macron) 1681049522
French President Emmanuel Macron sent his condolences to the victims and their loved ones.
“At the Armancette glacier in the Alps, an avalanche has caused casualties. We are thinking of them and their families. Our rescue forces have been mobilized to find people still stuck in the snow. Our thoughts are with them too,” Macron tweeted on Sunday.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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