Avalanche takes several people away in Switzerland.
The Swiss mountain rescue service rescued three dead people and one injured person from under a thick layer of snow near Zermatt on Monday evening. They had been swept away by an avalanche shortly after noon while they were outside the ski slope.
It produced spectacular images, yes. But with major consequences, as it turns out. Due to heavy snowfall and strong winds in the south of the Alps, there has been a risk of avalanche for several days. “We can expect large to very large avalanches,” the SLF (Schnee- und Avalanche Research) institute warned. The police therefore did not understand why skiers still took such great risks by skiing off-piste.
With major consequences. On Monday afternoon, several people were swept away in an avalanche. A major search was immediately launched with helicopters and rescue dogs. On Monday evening it became known that four people were rescued from the snow. No help could help three of them anymore. The fourth was taken away injured.
According to the police, it was initially unclear exactly how many people were missing. The police wrote on X: “Several people were dragged along.”
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Around 4:30 p.m., a media spokesperson said there were “probably at least three people.” In the evening, Anjan Truffer, Air Zermatt’s rescue chief, confirmed that the search had been stopped. This was because there were no further reports of missing persons. A short time later the sad news came: Three of the four people were dead, one person was rescued while injured.
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.
