One dead after Swiss avalanche, rescue search paused

This handout photograph released by the Swiss Police of Canton of Valais – Police Cantonale Valaisanne – shows rescuers on the site of a avalanche that left four skiers injured above the ski resort of Crans-Montana in the Swiss Alps on February 19, 2019. – An avalanche left four skiers injured at a resort in the Swiss Alps where rescue operations went on after dark with police fearing people could still be trapped under the snow. (Photo by Handout / POLICE CANTONALE VALAISANNE / AFP) /

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — One person engulfed in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps has died, police said Wednesday, as rescue operations to find other possible victims were paused after an all-night search.

Four people had been reported as injured in the avalanche on Tuesday at the Crans-Montana ski station in southern Switzerland.

One of the wounded, a 34-year-old French national, has died, police in Valais canton said in a tweet.

“Searches that continued through the night have been stopped. They will resume if the situation requires,” police added. No new victims were discovered overnight.

The avalanche hit during the early afternoon on a slope 2,600 metres (8,600 feet) up at Crans-Montana, which was busy with skiers during school holidays.

Swiss media said search efforts for the victims included sniffer dogs, four military helicopters and up to 250 rescue workers.

The avalanche was unusual in that it hit a designated ski slope, while the vast majority of deadly avalanches in the Alpine nation hit people skiing off-piste.

© Agence France-Presse