Missing skier may still be alive as five others found frozen to death in Alps

12 March 2024 , 15:54

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David Moix was a keen skier (Image: Facebook)

Rescuers hunting for a missing skier are "hoping for a miracle" and believe he may still be alive after five others were found frozen to death in the Swiss Alps.

The sixth skier's backpack and skis were found next to the bodies of five other skiers following a brutal storm this weekend. Lead rescuer and Air Zermatt chief Anjan Truffer said the find has giving workers a glimmer of hope that the missing skier may still be alive. He said: "First we found two people lying on the snow, severely hypothermic. Thanks to sounding poles and avalanche locators, we later found two more people lying under the snow cover.

"We had to shovel these out. When we found the people, they were very lightly dressed... they ended up disorientated at high altitude." Chief Truffer added: "The area is full of crevices - they may have fallen near the other members of the group. But this is just speculation."

A member of the group, aged between 21 and 58, sent a distress call to emergency services around 5pm on Saturday afternoon, authorities said, but helicopters and rescue teams were unable to deploy, such was the ferocity of the storm. The cross-country skiers had left Zermatt, Switzerland on Saturday morning with the goal of reaching the town of Arolla, near the Matterhorn mountain.

Christian Varone, head of Valais cantonal police, told reporters that rescue workers had pulled out all the stops to try to reach the stranded skiers but faced horrendous conditions. "We were trying the impossible," he said, adding that the mission had pushed its efforts "to the extreme, extreme limit", but were forced to turn around to avoid "seriously endangering the lives of the rescue workers. Sometimes you have to bow before nature."

Horror as two skiers killed in terrifying avalanche that hit popular ski resort

Marc Moix was one of the skiers (policevalais.ch)

David Moix was one of the six

Five of the six are reportedly from the same Swiss family, police said. Authorities have not yet confirmed the identities of all the deceased, but two victims were named locally as Jean-Vincent Moix and his brother David. Another brother, a cousin named Marc Moix and an uncle were also involved in the tragedy along with a sixth person identified as 28-year-old law graduate Emilie Deschenaux, a friend of David's. It is not yet clear which member of the group remains missing.

A friend of police officer Marc Moix Blick wrote on social media: 'We don't yet know whether he is the missing person or whether he is one of the people who have already been found. He was like a brother to me. I've known him for a very long time. He is a generous person with an extraordinary attitude to life. He loved life, his friends and his family. He lived his life 200 percent. It devastated me when I found out what had happened."

Emilie Deschenaux aunt posted: "It is with immense sadness that I come to you to tell you that the mountain has wrapped my little E. in its white shroud when a drama occurred in Tete Blanche at the weekend. Rest in peace. You were a diamond that brightened my life. You will continue to shine in our hearts forever."

Kelly-Ann Mills