Soldiers die in avalanche
Five French troops killed during Alps mountain warfare training
AN AVALANCHE in the French Alps has swept away a military unit on a training exercise, killing five soldiers and injuring several others.
MP Julien Aubert confirmed the deaths, saying the soldiers were training off-piste in Valfrejus in the Savoie region, close to the Italian border.
Search dogs and helicopters had started looking for the soldiers as soon as the alarm was raised.
About 10 of the military team were immediately found by rescuers and four were described as lightly hurt.
Mr Aubert said the group was a mixture of veterans and new recruits.
Unconfirmed reports said they belonged to the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment based at Saint-Christol in southern France. They had been training at France’s national centre for mountain warfare at Modane.
All the soldiers taking part in the exercise were carrying an avalanche detection system and rescuers were on the scene within minutes.
Two of those found by rescuers were taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia.
“For now the circumstances aren’t very clear,” Major Herve Pujol from the CRS rescue team said.
“We’re still trying to carry out the rescue and trying to count everyone in the area, to know if we still have people there who’ve been buried.”
Police in Lyon are expected to handle the investigation into the accident and Defence Minister JeanYves Le Drian was due to visit the scene today to pay his respects to those killed and thank those who took part in the rescue effort.
Jean-Claude Raffin, mayor of Modane, the nearest town, said the soldiers were out for an all-day skiing session as part of their training when the avalanche hit. He said six people were injured, three of them seriously.
The group of about 50 men were skiing at an altitude of around 6,500ft.
Julien Noel, director of the ski area, said the location where the avalanche hit is well-known for skiing and is not normally known as particularly dangerous.
He said the slopes were closed after the avalanche for safety reasons amid fears there could be further incidents.
Yesterday’s avalanche comes just days after three people, including two students and a Ukrainian tourist, were killed when a school group in the Alps was swept away by an avalanche.
A teacher is now under investigation for manslaughter after he apparently led his pupils on to a closed ski run shortly before the avalanche at Les Deux Alpes which is 80 miles away from the area where the soldiers died yesterday.
Officials said the danger had been well signposted on the piste, with netting blocking the top. The run is said to be situated on a particularly icy north-facing side of mountain.
But the teacher and students appear to have deliberately gone past the signs and started skiing downhill
A group of people skiing above the school party on the mountain may have triggered the avalanche, officials said at the time
The avalanche risk has been high in the region, where fresh snow has fallen in recent days.