(CNN) At least six people were killed and several injured in an avalanche that hit the French Alps over the weekend.
Emergency workers have been deployed after the accident in the Armansett glacier near Mont Blanc in southeastern France, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Sunday. Rescue work continues.
Clouds of snow rolled down the mountainside, according to a Reuters video posted on Twitter by a nearby ski station, Contamines-Montjoie.
The aftermath of a deadly avalanche near the Armancet glacier, in the shadow of Mont Blanc, on Sunday.
The avalanche occurred on the glacier on Sunday. Conditions on the mountain were described as “not particularly worrying,” with the president of the Federation of Mountain Guides in France, Dorian Lebay, telling Franceinfo that he did not know how such a tragedy could have happened in “good conditions.”
According to a spokesman for the local authorities in Haute-Savoie, the avalanche stretched across an area of 1 km by 500 metres, at an altitude of 3,500 meters (11,480 ft).
The people swept away by the avalanche were skiing in the countryside and the identities of the victims have been confirmed.
The mayor of Contamine-Montjoy, François Barbier, told AFP the avalanche was “the most deadly avalanche of the season”.
“It’s a pretty big avalanche on a busy road this time of year,” said LaPaye, adding: “We have tens of thousands of people going on ski tours right now in the Alps. And there’s usually a lot of people on that road. Usually It’s Easter weekend and conditions are fairly stable at this time of year.”
Labai said he did not believe there were any other victims. He said the affected group was equipped with an avalanche detector, shovels and probes which he said “facilitate the work of rescuers”.
French President Emmanuel Macron sent his condolences to the victims and their loved ones.
Macron wrote in a tweet on Twitter: “In the Armancet glacier in the Alps, an avalanche caused casualties. We are thinking of them and their families. Our rescue forces have been mobilized to find people still stuck in the snow. Our thoughts are with them too.” Sunday.
CNN’s Joseph Ataman contributed to this report.
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