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UPDATED: Third body recovered after Valais avalanche

The Local/AFP
The Local/AFP - [email protected]
UPDATED: Third body recovered after Valais avalanche
A police handout shows a general view of an avalanche that swept away four people in Vallon d'Arbi in western Switzerland. Photo: POLICE CANTONALE VALAISANNE / AFP

A third body was recovered on Tuesday with a fourth skier feared dead after an avalanche in Valais last Friday.

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The body of a third man was recovered after searches were carried out in very difficult conditions at the Vallon d'Arbi ski area over the last few days, Valais police said in a statement.

Official identification of the third body is still underway, police added.

Police stated on Saturday that two bodies had already been recovered from the site of the avalanche. Those found dead were both French nationals aged, 20 and 25, the police statement said.

A 32-year-old French citizen and a Swiss national, 57, from the canton of Vaud, were reported as still missing. The body of one of those two men has now been found.

According to Swiss broadcaster RTS, the avalanche last Friday happened at an altitude of 2,200 metres.

Vallon d'Arbi is a route best suited to skilled skiers, which is sporadically closed for safety reasons. Tourism sites recommend visitors ski with a guide.

Police said the route was open at the time of Friday's avalanche.

The accident is the latest in a series of fatal incidents affecting skiers in Switzerland this season, with a series of avalanches killing three in the Swiss Alps last month. A total of 21 people have died in avalanches this season to date, according to Geneva daily the Tribune de Genève.

 

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