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9 dead in French avalanche; missing climbers found alive

By Ralf Krueger and Clare Byrne –

PARIS — Nine climbers were killed Thursday in one of the worst avalanches in recent years in the French Alps.

The avalanche took place on the slopes of Mont Maudit, one of three routes used by climbers ascending Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps.

The prefecture of Haute-Savoie region confirmed the nine victims as three Germans, three Britons, two Spaniards and one Swiss citizen.

Four other climbers — two Britons and two Spaniards — who had been reported missing turned up safe in the afternoon.

The two British climbers had begun ascending Mont Blanc via another route but then turned back, escaping the avalanche, police in Chamonix resort said.

The two Spaniards had swapped their places in the mountain refuge where the climbers spent the night before beginning the ascent with the two Spaniards who were killed in the avalanche, the police said.

Fifteen people were treated in a nearby hospital for minor injuries, a spokesman for the local prefecture told dpa.

The alarm was raised by one of the injured climbers around 5:35 a.m., about three hours after they began their climb.

French and Italian rescue workers rushed to the area by helicopter. Six bodies were found in the initial search. Another three bodies were recovered by noon.

The cause of the avalanche was unclear. The weather forecast for Thursday had been described as favorable. No avalanche warning had been issued.

Rescue workers said one of the climbers might have dislodged a sheet of snow.

The last accident of this magnitude in the French Alps occurred in August 2008, when eight climbers were killed on another route up Mont Blanc.

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