Four Hikers Killed And One Missing In Avalanche Swiss Alps

Four Hikers Killed And One Missing In Avalanche Swiss Alps

Four people were killed and one is missing after a group of French high altitude hikers were suddenly blanketed by snow in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps on Saturday.

A group of 11 hikers fully-equipped with skis and snow shoes were caught in an avalanche near Bourg-St-Pierre, said Jean-Marie Bornet, a spokesman for police in the Swiss canton of Valais.

“We can say that these are French people who come from or live in the region of Cluses,”

in nearby eastern France, he told Swiss television TSR.

In the race against time, six were rescued, but three were found dead. The injured survivors were flown to local hospitals, police said.

Four Hikers Killed And One Missing In Avalanche Swiss Alps

Despite the fact that desperate life-saving measures were being administered, one of the injured later died, they added at a news conference.

One member of the party managed to escape uninjured and sent help. Rescue teams with tracker dogs uncovered the nine others rushed by helicopter to the mountainous area near the Italian border.

“We still have one missing,” Mr Bornet told AFP.

“There were 11. It’s always a race against time.”

Mr Bornet said the party had avalanche detection devices, although later it was revealed they were not accompanied by a mountain guide.

According to the latest bulletin of the Swiss National Avalanche Centre, the area had an alert level of three on a scale of five meaning there was a “marked danger” of avalanches on Saturday.

The party had climbed as far as the “Haute Route” across mountain peaks and glaciers between the French Alpine town of Chamonix and the Swiss resort of Zermatt.

Four Hikers Killed And One Missing In Avalanche Swiss Alps