'Miracle' of the Alps? Hopes missing sixth skier could still be alive after five others froze to death during storm
12 March 2024, 15:11
Rescuers hunting for a missing sixth skier after the bodies of five others were found said "miracles happen" after finding the person's backpack and skis.
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Lead rescuer Air Zermatt said his team previously saved people who had been missing for days which has given workers a glimmer of hope that the missing skier may still be alive.
Swiss media have speculated the individual may have fallen into a nearby crevice, given that their backpack and skis were found but rescuers have been unable to visually locate them.
M.Truffer said: "The area is full of crevices - they may have fallen near the other members of the group. But this is just speculation,."
Valais Police search for missing hikers near Zermatt
Describing how his team discovered five bodies scattered on the mountain, he told Swiss outlet NZZ: "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."
He said the skiers had tried to build a cave to protect themselves - in temperatures of -30 degrees C with windchill - but it was to no avail.
He added: "That's actually a good idea. But the group didn't have the necessary equipment with them. They had shovels, but they were too light to do anything with this massive blanket of snow."
Authorities have not yet confirmed the identities of all the deceased, but two victims have been named as Jean-Vincent Moix and his brother David by friends and colleagues on social media.
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.
The group of six skiers, who ranged in age from 21 to 58, had left Zermatt Saturday morning with the goal of reaching the town of Arolla, near the Matterhorn mountain, later that day.
But they became stranded at an altitude of around 11,400ft near Tete Blanche, a mountain peak between Zermatt and Arolla, when the storm hit.
A member of the group 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.
By the time a rescue team finally reached the mountain on Sunday evening, five of the six alpine enthusiasts had perished close to the Dent Blanche alpine cabin.
Colleagues of Jean-Vincent paid tribute to him, including the mayor of Vex - a small village in the Swiss canton of Valais where he was newly elected as a councillor.
The former private banker, who was also educated at the University of Westminster, was a keen mountaineer and had decided to switch careers.
Mayor Sebastien Menoud said: "It is such a huge tragedy to lose a colleague on the local council.
"Our thoughts are with him, his family and those around him and we express our deepest condolences to them."
Last night, a group of around 300 people in Vex gathered for a memorial procession, laying candles before listening to a performance by a local brass band, of which Jean-Vincent was a member.
