Three people missing after avalanche near Zermatt VS
Published: Monday, Apr 1st 2024, 19:10
Updated At: Monday, Apr 1st 2024, 20:30
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After the avalanche near Zermatt VS on Monday afternoon, at least three people were still missing in the evening. This was reported by a spokesperson for the Valais cantonal police. Rescue teams were still searching for buried victims. The avalanche broke loose on the Riffelberg.
The avalanche occurred shortly after 2 p.m., as the police wrote on the short message service X. A large-scale rescue operation was underway, a police spokesperson told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
According to Swiss-German radio and television SRF, Bruno Jelk, the former and long-standing head of the Zermatt mountain rescue service, spoke of a "large avalanche" in which the search for missing persons could take longer. It is unclear how many people are involved. Tracks in the snow indicated that several people had fallen into the steep slope.
Lots of fresh snow and gale-force winds had caused a considerable avalanche risk in the southern Alps in Switzerland over the past few days. On Easter Monday, there was great danger in parts of Graubünden and Valais.
"Very large and occasionally extremely large spontaneous avalanches are to be expected," said the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos GR on Monday.
So far this winter, 14 people have died in avalanches in the mountains in Switzerland. According to the WSL Institute, a total of 194 people have been caught in avalanches in 146 accidents. Most of the victims were ski tourers.
©Keystone/SDA
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