French Alps avalanche: At least four killed at Armancette glacier in Haute-Savoie region

The avalanche hit on the Armancette glacier in the Haute-Savoie region of France. Four people are confirmed dead so far. Photo / Jean-Philippe Clement / Twitter

An avalanche in the French Alps killed four people on Sunday, France’s interior minister said, calling the death toll a provisional count.

The avalanche rolled down the Armancette glacier in Contamines-Montjoie, in the Haute-Savoie region, some 30km southwest of Chamonix on Sunday local time.

Grosse coulée depuis les Dômes ce matin ...
Prudence en hors piste pic.twitter.com/9Hxzj9qvHp

— ⛷ Domaine Skiable des Contamines-Montjoie 🏂 SECMH (@domaineskiable) April 9, 2023

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin provided no details in his tweet about the deaths.

According to news reports a local deputy mayor has confirmed that two of the dead were local mountain guides. Several injured people have been taken to hospital, and two people are still missing.

The four victims were hiking on a busy skiing route, and included two guides aged 49 and 39, and a man and woman in their 20s, France 3 reports.

The deaths make this one of the deadliest avalanches in recent years.

Local MP Xavier Roseren confirmed in a social media post that two of the dead were local guides from Val Montjoie.

More than 20 rescuers were at the scene, aided by two helicopters and dog handlers.

The local France-Bleu radio station put the size of the avalanche at 1km long and 500 metres wide.

pic.twitter.com/4sEvkK1qpx

— Stéphane Barbot-Maire (@sbmiam) April 9, 2023

Two brothers died in an avalanche on the same glacier in 2014. They were both experienced mountaineers and had been properly equipped.