natural disaster
An avalanche took away at least three people near Zermatt, Switzerland, on Monday. The emergency services have launched a major search operation. The avalanche occurred around 2 p.m. in Riffelberg outside the ski slopes.
Source: BELGA
Today at 7:16 PM
Due to heavy snowfall and strong winds in the south of the Alps, there is a clear avalanche danger. “We can expect large to very large avalanches,” the SLF (Schnee- und Avalanche Research) institute for snow and avalanche research indicated.
The police therefore do not understand why skiers still take such great risks and venture off the ski slopes – as they do now in Zermatt.
Many people saw the avalanche thundering down, a police spokesman said. According to him, video recordings show that at least three people were dragged away, but rescuers do not actually know how many people were at the scene.
Major resources have been devoted to the search. A helicopter and sniffer dogs are searching the region.
Last month, five skiers from a family died in the Swiss Alps. A sixth, a woman, is still missing. According to the mountain rescue service, they also took too many risks by ignoring storm warnings.
Tags: Avalanche takes people Switzerland
