Images of a massive avalanche are circulating around the world after it occurred in Zermatt, one of Switzerland’s most important ski and mountaineering resortsDozens of people were buried while others were dragged several meters.
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The Valais police reported via their social networks that the incident occurred on Monday shortly after 2 p.m.: “An avalanche occurred in an off-piste area in Riffelberg (Zermatt). Several people were swept away.”. Search is ongoing. “There will be clues,” police wrote.
Beelden vd avalanche neergang #Zermatt #Riffelberg
Bron; Pomona Media pic.twitter.com/dsRTEn40ZD— Johanns (Alpen)weer (@Alpenweerman) April 1, 2024
This is what the former head of the Zermatt mountain rescue service, Bruno Jelk, said The avalanche occurred below the Riffelberg station, outside the slopes.
“Several people entered the slope, there were many footprints and they caused a large avalanche. You are looking there now. “You don’t know exactly how many are inside and how many are outside, it’s a big area, it’s a difficult situation, you have to search until you know there is no one left,” he said.
It turned out that the cause of the avalanche was the abundance of fresh snow and gale-force winds observed in the south of the country in recent days.where last year twelve avalanches killed 14 people in the winter of 2023.
Update: Video of an avalanche in Zermatt that buried several skiers. The ski area is quite busy because of the Easter holidays and fresh snow. pic.twitter.com/FseAT2hPN8
— The Fall of Rome (@LaCadutaDiRoma) April 1, 2024
Rescue workers began searching with several helicopters and sniffer dogs.Meanwhile, a police spokesman revealed this to the media At least three people were missing and several are presumed dead.
In days gone by, The Snow and Avalanche Research Institute (WLF) warned of a high risk of avalanches in the morning.
– Deadly avalanche hits Swiss village of Zermatt:
A mountain avalanche has claimed several lives in the well-known Swiss resort of Zermatt near the Italian border.
The avalanche was triggered by heavy snowfall and gale-force winds that… pic.twitter.com/CCYfObFloU
— The Informant (@theinformant_x) April 1, 2024
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“Very large and sometimes extremely large spontaneous avalanches are to be expected,” he said, emphasizing that there is a high risk of avalanches in Tyrol, Austria and South Tyrol.
The strong wind in recent days has caused large snow drifts, which are particularly prone to slipping and can lead to serious accidents.
*brc