Eager not to stay at home during this period of restrictions, two young men from Île-de-France undertook a mini-Tour de France of containment in the southwest of the country. One of these stages ended in the serious mountain accident of one of them.

It was the third stage of their little "Tour de France" of containment: after the Dune du Pilat and Biarritz, two young Ile-de-France residents from Trappe went this week to Gavarnie, in the Hautes-Pyrénées. But on the night of Thursday to Friday, this mountain excursion in the midst of restrictions resulted in a serious fall of one of them.

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The story begins with shouts in the middle of the night from Thursday to Friday. It is 1 am when, in full confinement, a man screams in the streets of Gavarnie. He calls for help, waking up the mountain people in the village. 

Two fines of 135 euros

Alerted, the emergency services then discovered a 26-year-old man in panic. "There was an accident," he tells them. His friend would have fallen down from the mountain. Immediately, a helicopter from the CRS Hautes-Pyrénées company took off. And around 3 am, the rescue team found a man in a state of hypothermia, multi-traumatized and victim of several fractures after a fall from 150 meters.

Once past the emergency comes the hour of explanations. They are amazing: the two men, originally from Yvelines, say that they wanted to go see the sunset from the top of the mountain. After the Dune du Pilat and Biarritz, this summit was the third stage of a mini "Tour de France" of containment, as reported by the head of CRS 65 at La République des Pyrénées .

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The injured young man was transported to Toulouse, where he must be operated on. His vital prognosis would not be engaged. "It's a miracle," said the head of the Hautes-Pyrénées CRS, which led the rescue operations. The two hikers were fined, receiving a fine of 135 euros each for non-compliance with the confinement rules.