Snowboarder killed in Alps ‘fell head-first’

A 25-year-old British snowboarder has suffocated to death after falling headfirst into a snowdrift in the French Alps.

The local mountain guide service said yesterday two witnesses alerted rescuers after spotting a snowboard sticking out of the snow in an off-piste area near the resort of Meribel. An official with the guide service said the man apparently was trapped for up to half an hour before he was spotted.

The man was in cardiac arrest when the time rescuers arrived.