Massive midday avalanche in French Alps that killed 4 skiers

Four people were killed and nine others have been injured in an avalanche southwest of Mont Blanc in the French Alps, France’s interior minister Gerald Darmanin informed saying that the avalanche occurred in the middle of the day on the Armancette glacier.

The four people who died were caught in the avalanche while backcountry skiing in the mountains. They have not been identified yet, DW News reported.

The Armancette glacier is located at an altitude of around 3,500 meters in the Haute-Savoie region, some 30 kilometres southwest of Chamonix which is a small town at the base of Mont Blan.

Local authorities said that the avalanche was extensive, DW News reported quoting the local France-Bleu radio station which said that the size of the avalanche was 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) long and 100 meters (328 feet) wide.

For the search and rescue operations, two helicopters were sent, the report added. French President Emmanuel Macron said that the rescue workers were continuing to search for further casualties.