An avalanche claimed the lives of three people in the French Alps last Jan. 13.
A mass of snow, ice and rocks fell unto a group of people skiing in the Deux Alpes Resort, killing two high school students and a Ukrainian national.
The French national police launched a rescue operation to search for survivors of the avalanche near Grenoble. The victims of the avalanche were 10 students from Lyon's St. Exupery high school, their teacher and a skier from Ukraine not related with the group of students.
More than 60 rescuers were tasked to search the area to find the kids and other possible victims. A number of dogs and four helicopters were mobilised for the rescue mission.
The ski slope where the avalanche struck was closed because there was a high chance of avalanche occurrence in that location. In fact, it was long closed because there was not enough snow earlier at the start of the skiing season.
Police were able to rescue the students but some were seriously injured. The students happened to be there because they were accompanied by their physical education teacher. The group went over the visible signs and safety net that forbid people from entering. It was stressed, however, that going off course is not necessarily illegal.
Despite the fact that he was a physical education teacher, he was not a ski instructor. He was one of the victims of the avalanche and is still recovering from the accident in a hospital with minor injuries.
The high school victims were a girl, 16 years of age, and a boy, 14 years of age. The girl was reported dead when she was found in the snow. The boy died in the hospital after he was transferred there. There's a possibility that three people died since one is still missing.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
