Three dead, four injured in French Alps avalanches

PARIS —Two separate avalanches in the French Alps killed three people and left four wounded, local authorities and French media said on Tuesday.

Around midday, a large slide, about 300 metres wide, swept across a road and a footpath in the town of Valloire, southeast France, the prefecture of Savoie said in a statement.

Rescue teams, including mountain police officers, firefighters, dog units and army specialists, were deployed for more than four hours before operations were halted in the late afternoon due to the risk of further avalanches, the prefecture added.

Two of the wounded were in serious condition and were evacuated by helicopter to nearby hospitals, it said.

French broadcaster BFMTV also reported, citing the prosecutor in the town of Gap, that two skiers had died earlier in an off?piste avalanche in La Grave in the neighbouring Hautes?Alpes region.

Weather forecaster Meteo France said Savoie remained on orange avalanche alert for Tuesday, but flagged an improvement in the coming days.

The deaths come as France grapples with heavy snowfall in the Alps and flooding in several western regions after days of intense rain.

Last Friday, three skiers died after being swept away in an avalanche in the upmarket French Alpine ski resort of Val d'Isere. —Reuters