Avalanche takes people away in Switzerland: three dead, relief effort halted

The operation was extremely difficult, despite the use of helicopters and sniffer dogs. Up to 120 centimeters of snow has fallen in some places since Friday. Because the victims were probably not experienced ski tourers, they were not known to have any equipment with them that could transmit a distress signal with coordinates in the event of danger, such as when struck by an avalanche. This made it even more difficult for rescue services to locate the skiers.

The identities of the victims have not yet been released.

Due to heavy snowfall and strong winds, warnings have already been issued about the risk of avalanches in some areas of the south of the Alps. “We can expect large to very large avalanches,” the SLF Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research indicated.

Last month, five ski tourers were found dead on the Swiss mountain Tête Blanche. They tried to build a snow cave to shelter from the bad weather, but eventually panic set in. The search is still underway for the sixth person in the group, but it is suspected that that man also died.