The bodies of three mountain climbers have been recovered after they were buried in an avalanche of ice and snow.
Two women – a 32-year-old Slovakian and a 33-year-old Polish-British dual national – were climbing Mont Blanc’s Mont Maudit with their German guide, 50, on Tuesday. When the avalanche struck they fell 150m to their deaths.
Lieutenant Colonel Stephane Bozon, of the mountain team in Chamonix, said the women’s bodies were found on Wednesday evening.
The guide’s body was found early on Thursday. Lt Col Bozon said that ice had fractured while the team were climbing, creating the avalanche.
A team of 16 police officers, two dogs and a helicopter were used to find the bodies and rescue workers then had to use chainsaws to free them from the ice on the 4,100m mountain.
Lt Col Bozon said the search was delayed because two other groups of climbers in the area had said no one was buried by the avalanche.
French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced an investigation into the incident, adding that there have been eight fatalities on mountains in France since last Saturday.
The deaths come as tourists were warned to treat western Europe’s highest mountain with respect, with some accused of using it like a “theme park”.
Around 200 people try to reach the mountain’s peak every day during the popular summer months and around 50 people die every year.
Mont Maudit – translated as Cursed Mountain – is in the Mont Blanc range near the French town of Chamonix.
It is the massif’s third-highest peak.
