British woman killed by avalanche in Swiss Alps
A British woman has been killed by an avalanche while hiking in the Swiss Alps.
The 40-year-old woman was among four people killed by avalanches this weekend as her party of six climbed the Pointes de Mourti peak.
According to the Mirror, the group was swept away by a 150-metre wide wall of snow that broke away from a glacier at 7.25am on Saturday.
The woman died alongside a 50-year-old Swiss man.
The four survivors were taken to hospital in Sion after one of them was able to raise the alarm.
Another avalanche in the area on Saturday killed a Swiss skier, 28, and a German, 30, at around 3.30pm.
The Sun reports that the Foreign Office said it was providing consular assistance.
Back in May, a British climber was swept down Mont Blanc in France and managed to escape with minor injuries by swimming 700m in an avalanche.
Aosta police chief Delfino Viglione told the Daily Mail: "The climber who was caught in the avalanche survived but he was very, very lucky.
"He was hit by the full force of the avalanche, but instead of being buried he managed to swim it for 700m before coming to a stop.
"The swimming action helped him stay near the surface of the snow and he was able to walk out of the avalanche.
"He had to be picked up by helicopter as the mountain rescue teams could not reach him - but the main thing was he survived."
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