The two Eindhoven skiers (20 & 21) lost their lives in an avalanche in the French Alps on Monday afternoon. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that they were skiing outside the guarded slopes, according to rescue services.
It concerns two men of 20 and 21 years. They were taken to the hospital in Grenoble. They were skiing off-piste near Saint-Colomban-des-Villards. Their families have been informed by the Ministry.
Around one o’clock in the afternoon, a ski lift attendant from the Les Sybelles ski area saw a snow cloud on one of the slopes of the Col de Bellard. He immediately suspected that it was an avalanche, so two patrols went to check it out. They discovered footprints off the slopes of the Saint-Colomban-des-Villards ski station. This was reported by De Telegraaf, who spoke to people involved in the rescue operation.
“They immediately alerted the emergency services”, rescue worker, Thomas Maisonneuve, of the gendarmerie of Modane, says to De Telegraaf. “We went looking for them with two helicopters and three dogs. In total there were fifteen of us”. The two young skiers were lying under the snow at 1 metre and 1 metre 50. They were found with the help of a dog and an avalanche probe, which can measure how deep someone is under the snow.
“We had two doctors with us, who immediately started resuscitation. The efforts continued in the helicopter on the way to the hospital in Grenoble. Unfortunately, the skiers were examined and declared dead”, Maisonneuve continues.
The risk of avalanches in this part of the Alps was considered significant on Monday. A few days ago it happened in another part of the Alps, in Tyrol in Austria. There, avalanches killed at least eight people in a short time. The media spoke of a black day for the region.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
