We learn more about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of five hikers who went missing in the Swiss Alps on Saturday 9 March. Coming from the same family, they may have died of cold, despite a desperate attempt to find shelter.
He clung to life till his last breath. On Saturday March 9, six ski hikers disappeared at the Col de Tete Blanche, located at an altitude of 3,500 meters in the Swiss Alps. Fortunately, one of his family members managed to notify the emergency services immediately, but weather conditions delayed the search operation. Five of the six missing, all members of the same family, were eventually found dead at the end of the day on Sunday 10 March. The search for the sixth is still going on.
And contrary to what the emergency services initially thought, the hikers did not fall victim to the avalanche, but died from the cold, as announced by “24 Heures”: two victims were found directly in the snow. “They did everything to protect themselves,” says Christian Varon, commander of the local police. in vain “They tried to dig a hole to protect themselves from the cold and wind. But a lot of snow fell and the ditch was filled. All the victims died,” said Anjan Trufar, head of emergency services.
According to RTS, winds gusted over 100 km/h this Saturday afternoon and temperatures dropped to -18 degrees, leaving hikers with little protection. On satellite images, a small pile of snow made by a family looking for an igloo for shelter is sadly visible.
In a desperate attempt to survive, hikers tried to dig a hole to seek shelter from extreme weather conditions.
© Handout by Police Cantonale Walesa / REUTERS
“It’s the mountain that decides”
If the Swiss press, for the moment, refuses to give the identity of the deceased, the “Daily Mail” confirms that the captain of the local police, Marc Moix, is among the victims of this tragedy. He would have gone hiking with David and Jean-Vincent Moix, who were his cousins, as well as his brother and his uncle. The missing person would be Dawood’s friend. The English daily introduced her as “Emilie Deschenaux, 28 years old, law graduate, originally from Fribourg”.
Weather conditions were good when they left Zermatt. But according to RTS, “the Tête Blanche region is famous for its difficulty in orienteering when visibility conditions are poor”, yet they “suddenly” deteriorated during their hike. Leaving them very little chance. “He decides the mountain,” says the local police commander fatally.
