The Belgian citizen who passed away on Sunday, slightly before 2 pm, while skiing in an off-piste area at the Vallorcines resort, north of Chamonix (Haute-Savoie), had his home in Herve, Liege province, and was born in 1954, indicated in the evening the Lieutenant-Colonel Stéphane Bozon, head of the French squad of High Mountain Gendarmerie (PGHM), Chamonix, contacted by the Belga Agency. A group of three Belgians, belonging to the same family, all living in the Liege Province, were cross-country skiing, accompanied by a high mountain guide, when the accident occurred.
The group was caught by an avalanche and one of the three Belgians, a father, passed away. His son is unhurt. The third Belgian, born in 1980, suffers serious back injury after having fallen over a ridge of rocks, and has been transported to the Sallanches Hospital, specified the PGHM head. “His life is not in danger,” he declared.
An enquiry on involuntary homicide has been opened by the Bonneville prosecution, and the guide has been placed in police custody, added the Lieutenant-Colonel Bozon, specifying that this is normal procedure for such a case.
Warnings against the risk of avalanches had been published during these recent days, and the group of skiers was probably experienced, according to the PGHM head.
The Brussels Times
