FRANCE INFO, LE DAUPHINE LIBERE (France)
CHAMONIX - At least nine people were killed, at four are still missing after an avalanche at Mont Maudit ("Cursed Mount"), the third highest peak in the Mont Blanc mountain range.
Eleven climbers -- including a mountain guide -- have so far been rescued, but French and Italian emergency services and sniffer dogs are still searching for survivors on the north face of the mountain, not far from the French Alpine ski resort of Chamonix, the leading newpaper in the Rhône-Alpes region Le Dauphiné Libéré reports.
According to the website of French news radio station France Info, 28 climbers in total, from Switzerland, Serbia, Great Britain, Germany, Spain and France -- divided in at least two groups roped together – are thought to have been caught around 5.30 a.m. by the deadly avalanche at an altitude of 4,000 meters near the border between France and Spain.
