Swedish skier killed by avalanche in French Alps
A Swede was among the four skiers who died at the French Alpine resort of Val d'Isère after an avalanche swept the group away while they had ventured off-piste, police announced on Tuesday.
"The man came from central Sweden," Svante Hådell, press office at the Swedish embassy in Paris, told news agency TT on Tuesday.
The four skiers, including a Swedish citizen, a Briton and two Frenchmen, were crushed to death by cascading snow which they had dislodged as they skied by. A fifth victim was partially buried, but survived unscathed in what one rescuer described as a "miracle."
The skiers were among a group of seven who skied off the marked slopes when
the avalanche struck, said Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Claude Gin.
"The four people's hearts had stopped by the time they were pulled from the avalanche," Gin said. Two more survivors escaped the 250-metre-wide 800-metre long avalanche and called for help.
A ski instructor was in the group of seven, but it was not immediately clear if he was one of those killed.
Another British man died late last month after he was hit by an avalanche in the same ski area, while a Frenchman and his two sons were killed in November 2010.
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"The man came from central Sweden," Svante Hådell, press office at the Swedish embassy in Paris, told news agency TT on Tuesday.
The four skiers, including a Swedish citizen, a Briton and two Frenchmen, were crushed to death by cascading snow which they had dislodged as they skied by. A fifth victim was partially buried, but survived unscathed in what one rescuer described as a "miracle."
The skiers were among a group of seven who skied off the marked slopes when
the avalanche struck, said Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Claude Gin.
"The four people's hearts had stopped by the time they were pulled from the avalanche," Gin said. Two more survivors escaped the 250-metre-wide 800-metre long avalanche and called for help.
A ski instructor was in the group of seven, but it was not immediately clear if he was one of those killed.
Another British man died late last month after he was hit by an avalanche in the same ski area, while a Frenchman and his two sons were killed in November 2010.
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