France avalanche kills British mother and son who were skiing off-piste in Alps

The mum and son were out with an instructor when they were buried by the deluge of snow.

The French regional government confirmed in a statement a search and rescue operation was underway.

A spokesperson from the Haute-Savoie regional government said: "An avalanche 400m long occurred this Thursday, December 28, 2023 at 3.30pm, in the off-piste area, at an altitude of 2,300 meters and near the Mont-Joly chairlift located in the Mont-Joly ski area. Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, involving eight people.

"A major search and rescue system was immediately deployed by the emergency services. slopes of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, reinforced and commanded by the high-level gendarmerie platoon mountain (PGHM) of Chamonix.

"The final report shows two victims dead, one lightly injured and five other people unhurt.

"Yves LE BRETON, prefect of Haute-Savoie would like to send his sincere condolences to the loved ones of the victims and his thoughts to those involved in this avalanche. He also thanks all the personnel who made it possible to carry out the search operations."

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Speaking to BFM television, Saint-Gervais Mayor Jean-Marc Peillex said the weather conditions were too unstable for such risky outings.

Mayor Peillex said: "It rained, it snowed, it was warm. There are enough marked paths to ski on.

"It’s terrible what happened. A family is decimated, and we are very sad in Saint-Gervais."

To the north of the region, a 31-year-old hiker was found dead after falling on the slope of the Ecrins mountain range.

Local broadcaster France-Bleu cited rescuers as saying the hiker had veered away from hiking paths to look at mountain goats with a friend.

Meanwhile, a 19-year-old British student was seriously injured when his sledge travelling at speed crashed into a tree last night.

The Mirror reports the student and five friends hurtled down the unlit slope at Mittelberg, Austria when their sledge lost control.

Rescuers told local media the teen was unconscious and unresponsive when they got to him after the midnight crash, reported on December 29. The student, not named due to local privacy laws, was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Kempten.