A Frenchman was killed and two others wounded in an avalanche on Saturday in the Swiss Alps after heavy snowfall, police from the canton of Vaud said.
Seven hikers caught in an avalanche. The three people, who were part of a group of seven ski hikers, all French, were buried in an avalanche while they were near the top of Vanil Carré, in the town of Château-d'Oex. "(While they were) arrived on a ledge of snow, this one yielded and precipitated three people on the Vaudois side of the summit", explained the police in a statement published Saturday night.
A man "totally buried". A 39-year-old man living in France was "totally buried" and "found dead by the help of other hikers who were there," the police said. "Two of the victims were quickly cleared of the snow mass, shocked and slightly injured" and were hospitalized for checks, the police added. A patrol and an investigator of the gendarmerie, 18 rescuers and three helicopters were mobilized in these operations of relief, specifies the release.
High avalanche risk Swiss meteorological services had last week raised the level of avalanche alert to the highest degree in several parts of the country. Three people died in avalanches in western Austria last week. The French authorities have warned against a high risk of avalanches in Haute-Savoie, Switzerland's border department.