British man killed by avalanche in the Alps

Telegraph

18-04-2025

A British man has died after being swept 50ft in an avalanche at the top of the Val Thorens resort in the French Alps.
The 27-year-old man was found buried under an avalanche that was triggered by heavy snowfall at around 10am on Thursday morning, local authorities said.
The man, who has not been named, was reportedly standing on the side of the road near the entrance of the Val Thorens ski resort where he was visiting friends, when he was swept up by the avalanche and carried 50 feet.
When police officers arrived at the scene, the man was already in cardiac arrest. He was transferred to Grenoble University Hospital where he died later that night.
'Four landslides have been reported in Les Menuires and Val Thorens,' said Ludovic Trautmann, director of the Savoie district.
'Given the conditions in the coming days, we are calling for the utmost vigilance. The buried person was affected by the landslide at the bottom of the resort.'
Heavy snowfall has wreaked havoc across the Swiss, Italian and French Alps in recent days, causing power outages across thousands of homes and severe traffic disruption.
Residents and holidaymakers in the French town of Tignes were put under lockdown yesterday, which was lifted that same evening. Heavy trucks were also banned from using the main Mont Blanc tunnel between France and Italy.
In Italy, a 92-year-old man was found dead in his flooded home in Piedmont, where heavy rain had turned to snow. A father, 64, and his son, 33, were also killed after their car was swept away by currents caused by heavy rain near Vicenza in Veneto.
By 6pm on Friday, the French national weather service lifted alerts for avalanches in the Savoie.
The heavy snowfall coincided with Easter weekend, when holidaymakers typically make their final ski run of the season. On Friday, skiers returned to the slopes in Val Thorens under clear skies.