Six climbers found dead in French Alps
Bodies found by fellow climber at Neige Cordier peak near Villar d'Arne in Hautes-Alpes region
French police have opened an investigation into the deaths of six climbers who were killed in an accident in the Alps at the weekend.
It is though the climbers were swept off the mountain by an avalanche of snow and rocks in what is one of the worst climbing tragedies in France in recent years.
The bodies of the climbers, who were reportedly roped together in two groups, were discovered by an English climber who was following the same route, high in the Alps, on Sunday morning.
They were at an altitude of 2,700 meters (8,858ft) on the Neige Cordier peak, near the village of Villar-d'Arne in the Hautes-Alpes region. The area, just south-east of Grenoble in the southern French Alps, is popular with climbers.
The victims, whose names and nationalities have not been released, had left an overnight mountain refuge in the village area on Saturday morning, saying they were going to climb the 3,614 meters to the summit.
They are believed to have fallen 200 meters into a steep pass, which locals said was frequently used by snow-walkers and mountaineers, shortly after setting off.
Although the party had been due to return to an Alpine lodge on Saturday evening, the alarm was not raised when they failed to appear.
A mountain rescue team consisting of police, paramedics and doctors, was called when the hiker discovered their bodies at around 9.40am on Sunday. The bodies were flown by helicopter to Villar-d'Arne, where a makeshift morgue was set up.
The local mayor, Xavier Cret, who works as a mountain guide, told French journalists: "I am a high mountain guide and I am very familiar with this site. It's not a particularly difficult area [to climb] but, hypothetically, there could have been [an avalanche of] snow and stones which could have swept away the ropes.
"We won't know until there is an investigation. It's not a place with a dangerous reputati! on, and the conditions for climbing were ideal. We are a small village, and everyone is extremely distressed."
A spokesman for the mountain rescue service said "all hypotheses are possible".
"They could have been caught up when a snow bridge collapsed, or [in] a fall or an avalanche," he said.
Local guide Franois Pinatel said the area in the Ecrins Alpine range was known to be dangerous when the snow is heavy and in certain places where there are overhanging rocks. In June 2007, five climbers from the same family died after falling in the same range.
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