Two German mountaineers still missing in the French Alps
In the French Alps, two German mountaineers remain missing after a fall from a glacier. "An ice axe was found at the edge of a crevasse. It's believed that an avalanche surprised them there," said Jean Ailhaud, deputy prosecutor of Bonneville in the eastern French department of Haute-Savoie, to the news agency AFP. The two Germans have been missing since a block of ice fell early Monday morning at the Mont-Blanc massif.
Given the amount of snow that has fallen into the crevasse, it's too dangerous to descend there, the deputy prosecutor added. The search for the missing persons was suspended Monday afternoon due to the risk of further ice collapses.
The two Germans, aged 30 and 39, had spent the night of Sunday to Monday in a hut at the foot of the Mont-Blanc massif. Around 03:00 AM, an icefall occurred on the north side of Mont Blanc du Tacul at approximately 4100 meters in altitude. A Frenchman was killed, and four others were injured. There were about 15 people in the area at the time of the accident.
Despite the suspended search, there's a strong possibility of another dangerous crash due to ice collapses. The missing Germans might have encountered a tragic crash as they were caught in the initial avalanche.
