DRAMA: The accident occurred on a “closed track” of the Vars ski area
A 30-year-old skier died of his injuries after being swept away on Saturday afternoon by an avalanche in Vars, in the Hautes-Alpes. “The victim was declared deceased around 7:00 pm” at the hospital where she had been taken care of “in a serious condition,” said the prefecture.
The drama took place shortly before 4:30 p.m. at 1,800 meters above sea level in the municipality’s ski area, when a group of four skiers, including the victim, set out “on a closed track”, she said. precise. Carried away by a snowfall, three of the four young people were able to extract themselves while the fourth, aged 30 and from Paris, remained buried “for half an hour” before being released by rescuers from the Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute-Montagne (PGHM) of Briançon.
The department placed in high avalanche alert
“Polytraumatisée”, the victim had been transported to the hospital “in a serious state”, according to the same source. The circumstances of the avalanche remained unknown on Saturday.
Friday, the Hautes-Alpes department had been placed in avalanche alert level 4 out of 5 like Isère and Savoie, where abundant precipitation accompanied by a marked softening were to fall Saturday on the massive on a little consolidated snowpack.
The Hautes-Alpes prefecture again called the public on Saturday “to the greatest caution” in the mountains.
