Swiss mountain ice fall claims French and Spanish victims
The Grand Combin mountain peak, covered in snow, in western Switzerland.
Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott
Two people have been killed, and nine injured, after a mountaineering group was struck by chunks of ice cascading from a summit in western Switzerland.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch/mga
Police said that a French citizen, aged 40, and a Spaniard, 65, were killed on the Grand Combin mountain in canton Valais during the accident on Friday.
Nine other members of the 17-strong mountaineering team were taken to hospital, two with serious injuries. The rest of the party has been evacuated from the scene by helicopter.
The peak of Grand Combin stands 4,314 metres above sea level, but the icefall occurred at a height of 3,400 metres in the ‘Plateau du Déjeuner’ area as the climbers were ascending to the summit via the ‘Voie du Gardien’ route.
The alarm was raised around 6.20 am on Friday, leading to a rescue operation involving seven helicopters from the Air-Glaciers, Air Zermatt and Rega rescue services.
More
More
Up in the Clouds
This content was published on
We had a feeling this would be coming, as the night before our tin-can of a bivouac hut made popping noises as gusts slammed into it from one side and then another. The cirrus clouds that covered Mont Blanc and all the mountains to the west were a pretty good clue as well, especially when…
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
Switzerland is Europe’s most innovative country, EU study finds
This content was published on
In the European Commission's annual ranking, the Swiss score dropped slightly in 2025, but not enough to cost it top spot.
Women’s Euro 2025 has been largely peaceful so far
This content was published on
After two weeks of football fever in various Swiss host cities, no major incidents have been reported so far, police say.
Planned solar park at Bern airport scaled back after talks
This content was published on
The ground-mounted plant at Belpmoos Airport will be smaller than originally planned, the parties involved said on Tuesday.
This content was published on
If even mountains are in constant motion, then we should accept the inevitable shifts in our lives when everything around us is changing.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.