An avalanche of rocks and snow blocked a road in the canton Graubünden on Sunday while a thaw led to similar slides elsewhere in the Swiss Alps, disrupting rail traffic.

"/> An avalanche of rocks and snow blocked a road in the canton Graubünden on Sunday while a thaw led to similar slides elsewhere in the Swiss Alps, disrupting rail traffic.

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ZERMATT

Spring thaw triggers avalanche mayhem

An avalanche of rocks and snow blocked a road in the canton Graubünden on Sunday while a thaw led to similar slides elsewhere in the Swiss Alps, disrupting rail traffic.

A mass of boulders weighing around 2,000 cubic metres fell on the road linking the Engadine Valley and Giarsun Ardez.

Clean-up operations continued on Monday to clear the road of the debris, according to cantonal authorities.

A bypass was established for vehicles of less than 3.5 tonnes while heavier vehicles were rerouted through the Ofen Pass.

Two cars were hit by another avalanche in Graubünden on Sunday, but the occupants were able to exit safely from the vehicles, cantonal police reported.

Spring-like conditions have made many snow-covered mountain slopes unstable.

On Friday, an avalanche claimed the life of a 33-year-old forester, who was clearing a driveway with a backhoe beneath the steep northern slope of the Stanserhorn, a mountain in the canton of Nidwalden.  

Another slide disrupted the Glacier Express train service in the canton of Valais over the weekend.

Meanwhile, a German tourist in his 60s was seriously injured in Zermatt when a lump of ice weighing 15 kilograms fell on him from a roof, the ATS news service reported.

The man was taken to hospital in Bern for treatment.

Following an unusually cold spell, Switzerland has experienced milder weather over the past few days, with temperatures rising to as high as 23 degrees in Ticino over the weekend.

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SKIING

Skiers in France warned over dangers after another deadly avalanche in Alps

Skiers in France are being warned to take the "utmost caution" especially when skiing off-piste after another deadly avalanche left at least tow dead in the French Alps on Sunday.

Skiers in France warned over dangers after another deadly avalanche in Alps
AFP

Two skiers from France and Belgium were killed in avalanches in the French Alps on Sunday while three other people remain missing, a local official said.

The deaths add to the toll in the French mountains from avalanches since Friday.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb,  on Twitter, urged all those taking part in winter sports to act “with the utmost caution.”

It is essential to follow the signs put up by local authorities “to avoid putting yourself in danger and endangering rescue teams”.

The two skiers died during simultaneous avalanches around lunchtime, while skiing off-piste from the Vallorcines resort  in the Chamonix-Mont Blanc region.

One of the skiers was dug out of the snow alive but died hours later in hospital, The second, the Belgian skier was found dead.

Another Belgian in the same group was injured.

An hour earlier, at Samoens near the Swiss border, a Swiss hiker was swept away by another avalanche. Bad weather forced searchers to abandon their efforts to find him later in the day.

The man's wife was also buried in snow but escaped with only minor injuries.

“We are pessimistic about his chances as he has already been five hours under the snow, ” an Haute-Savoie regional official told AFP at 1700 GMT
Sunday.

In neighbouring Savoie rescuers were looking for two missing skiers, aged 47 and 49, who were caught in an avalanche off-piste at Planay in the
Tarentaise Valley in the heart of the French Alps.

On Saturday two Spanish skiers were killed when an avalanche hit a group skiing off-piste on a mountain in southeastern France.

A day earlier four skiers were killed in the Mercantour National park in the French Alps, the deadliest avalanche of the winter so far.