Europe 1
Black day in the Alps. Five skiers were killed Wednesday in two mountain accidents in the Hautes-Alpes. Two Austrians and an Italian were killed in an avalanche in the Ecrins, among a group of foreigners, another member was seriously injured. And two off-piste skiers died by unscrewing Dévoluy. The first elements of the investigation point to a lack of experience of skiers, aged twenty years.
Sept survivors in shock. The avalanche broke out Wednesday around 15 hours, under the collar Emile Pic, to more than 3,000 meters above sea level, in the municipality of Pelvoux. The four victims were part of a group of ten foreign skiers, supervised by a guide, which is still unclear whether he was among the victims. The seven miracles, youth aged 22 to 25 years, so have seen their comrades disappear under their eyes in this avalanche of 100 meters wide and 600 meters long. A wall of four meters thick.
The survivors then pulled out the bodies of their friends, even before help arrived. Trapped in the weather, they spent the night in the shelter of the Jewel cases, with a policeman beside them.
The wind complicated the task of rescue. They are shocked but free and wait for the wind calms to be airlifted. Many rescuers helped helicopters were dispatched to the site: 24 rescuers PGHM Modane, Briançon and Versoud with their dogs, and about thirty firefighters Hautes-Alpes
But. the wind blowing at more than 80 km / h on the scene of the avalanche complicated their task. “Rescuers are raising the question but there is no sign that there are other people under the avalanche,” said the departmental director of the county fire and rescue service (SDIS), the Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Moreau. The return of the survivors is expected in the morning and hearing should take place in the afternoon.
A victim in serious condition. The seriously injured victim, an Austrian, was in a state of “extreme urgency” and his prognosis was launched, had said initially the prefecture. Evacuated by helicopter to Grenoble hospital, he was still under examination, including scanner, in the evening, said the floor of Gap.
The unwary skiers? Gap prosecutor opened an investigation. For now, the shadows are many. The gendarmes responsible for the investigation attempting including whether the group was accompanied by a sufficient number of guide. Knowing that a group of eleven people should at least be accompanied by two guides. The question of their equipment and their possible imprudence also arises.
“We do not know if there was a guide. We have evidence, but for the moment, no certainty,” he responded prosecutor Gap micro Europe 1. Currently, the gendarme who is the shelter with the victims could not confirm their identities, knowing that none of them speak French.
“I think these people have not been able to refuse” But when questioned used the mountain, all say they would never committed Wednesday saw the weather. Wind violent, unstable snow cover and mild temperatures. The alert weather the day before also stated that the only passage of a skier could be enough to get a plate and create an avalanche.
“There was a lot of wind. I who made the mountaineering, I will never ventured. A mountain running, at this time, it is done in the morning. But there, at 14 hours, the wind was stronger. I think they did not know enough field . In the mountains, one must be humble, it means refusing to know, and I think these people have not been able to refuse “, has also reacted Jean Conreaux, the mayor of Vallouise, micro Europe 1.
“Black day”: 2 skiers die in a simultaneous accident. “We live a black day in the Hautes-Alpes because in addition to the avalanche we had in the same day two skiers who were off-track, which unscrewed and which are also deceased,” continued the Prefect of the Hautes-Alpes, Pierre Besnard on Europe 1. “Everything suggests they were caught in a rock bar and they fell,” he said. According to our information, there is a roped backcountry skiers evolve off-piste that has “screwed” in the massive Dévoluy.
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