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Rescuers find sixth body after French Alps avalanche

Emergency workers found two more victims of an avalanche near Mont Blanc in southeastern France on Monday, bringing the death toll from the tragedy to six.

Published: 10 April 2023 07:46 CEST
Updated: 10 April 2023 14:46 CEST

A French mountain gendarme and a pretend victim are evacuated by helicopter during an avalanche exercise on March 16, 2023, near Briancon, French Alps.

A French mountain gendarme and a pretend victim are evacuated by helicopter during an avalanche exercise on March 16, 2023, near Briancon, French Alps. An avalanche killed four near Mont Blanc on Sunday. Photo: Nicolas TUCAT / AFP

A massive body of snow swept down the Armancette glacier in the Alps on Sunday, killing two mountain guides and four of their clients.

Searchers recovered the bodies of the guides and a couple in their twenties on Sunday, and the remaining victims were found on Monday morning, said prosecutor Karline Bouisset.

They were a 39-year-old woman and a man in his early forties who was “probably” her partner, she said.

One person also suffered slight injuries in the avalanche while eight others also swept up were unharmed, the prefecture said.

The avalanche occurred without warning on a sunny day, covering an area of 1,600 metres (nearly one mile) by 500 metres.

READ ALSO: Avalanche in French Alps kills British woman

Skiing conditions had been “good” on Easter Sunday, the mayor of the town of Contamines-Montjoie, Francois Barbier, told AFP.

“I think it’s the most deadly avalanche this season.”

Weather authority Meteo France had not issued any avalanche alert for the region, but a combination of warmth and wind may have been behind the disaster, local authorities said.

“It’s a particularly alarming tragedy in such good conditions,” said Dorian Labaeye, president of France’s mountain guide union.

“We have tens of thousands of people doing ski touring at the moment in the Alps, there are usually lots of people on the Easter weekend and conditions are usually pretty stable at this time of year,” he told the France Info radio channel.

President Emmanuel Macron on Twitter said he was thinking of the families.

Two brothers died in an avalanche on the same glacier in 2014, both experienced climbers in their 20s.

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Will we see the sun in France over May's Ascension holiday week?

Forecasters in France expect warmer, sunnier weather for the days ahead, after several weeks of clouds and cold temperatures.

Unfortunately, in order to enjoy the sun you’ll have to wait through a few more days of rain. Here is what to expect for the rest of the week and the long weekend;

Monday

Rain is the dominating weather characteristic of the day, especially over Occitanie, PACA, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Burgundy-Franche-Comté and the Grand-Est. Over in the west, skies will be mostly cloudy, and residents in Brittany and Normandy can expect storms later in the day, which could spread into parts of Centre-Val de Loire.

Where it’s not raining, it will be mostly cloudy, with temperatures expected to rise to between 14C to 18C across most of the country, but could reach 21C on the Mediterranean coast and 26C in western Corsica.

Tuesday

More rain. With the exception of the far west of the country, which will get a preview of conditions to come as Tuesday goes on, rain is the weather order of the day, with storms predicted in southern areas from mid-afternoon and into the evening.

Maximum temperatures are expected to range from 14C to 19C in the north of France, and from 11C to 20C in the southern half.

Wednesday May 8th – Public holiday for Victory in Europe day

The long public holiday weekend arrives, along with the sun. Other than in the far north early on, expect sunshine and mostly blue skies – though occasionally stormy showers may develop in the southeast later on.

Temperatures of between 17C and 20C are forecast in the northern half of the country, and between 18C and 21C further south.

The map below from Météo France gives a better idea of the weather across France on Wednesday afternoon.

Weather forecast for France on Wednesday May 8th. Météo France

Thursday – Public holiday for Ascension

Mild. Dry. Sunny. Your three-word forecast for Thursday. There may be a few clouds in northern France, but the south is wall-to-wall sunshine for most of the day. Isolated storms may develop in the southern Alps late in the day.

Temperatures of between 18C and 20C are forecast in the northern half of the country, and between 19C and 24C further south.

Friday – Pont de l’Ascension – Day off for many with schools closed in France

Overcast conditions return in the northern half of the country on Friday, to remind everyone that it’s not quite summer yet, but the skies remain clear in the south, with temperatures expected to climb past 25C in the southwest of the country.

Weekend

Other than a few thunderstorms in the south of the country, expect dry, warm, sunny weather across the whole of France over the weekend, with early summer temperatures reaching into the upper 20s celsius to match.

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