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Avalanche in the French Massif Central: The rain could have put a strain on the snow cover
Photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images
At least four people have died in an avalanche in the French Massif Central.
According to French media, three others are said to have been injured and two others are missing.
The accident took place on Sunday afternoon in Val d'Enfer, in the Massif Sancy in Auvergne near the Mont Dore ski area.
It lies at an altitude between 1200 and 1846 meters.
According to information from the regional newspaper “Midi Libre”, the people are said to have had an accident while skiing.
According to operations manager Benoît Asselon, a group of nine mountaineers were surprised by a snow slide in Val d'Enfer, not far from Mont Dore, around 2 p.m., according to the newspaper.
According to the specialist, the rain could have put a strain on the snow cover that had accumulated in the past few hours.
The rescuers quickly found seven people, four of whom had already died.
The severity of the injuries of the other three people found is currently unknown.
The rescuers would work hard to find the last two missing people.
The bad weather conditions made the search for the missing people difficult on Sunday.
When it rains there is a high risk of avalanche overloading.
Avalanches in the Central Massif are rather rare.
eru/dpa/AFX