Swiss avalanche claims one life and injures four

One person has died in an avalanche near Kandersteg in the Bernese Oberland and four others were injured, according to police. The wet snow avalanche broke loose above Lake Oeschinen on Thursday afternoon. The deceased was a 32-year-old French citizen living in Switzerland, as reported by the Bern cantonal police on Thursday evening. Helicopters, avalanche detection dogs, mountain specialists and other services of the Bern cantonal police were deployed during the rescue operation. The police identified an ongoing danger of avalanches in the mountains and recommended consulting the latest forecasts on the snow and avalanche situation. + How I survived an avalanche With the latest victim from Kandersteg on Thursday, the number of fatalities caused by avalanches rose to 20 in the so-called ‘hydrological year’ 2023-24, as recorded by the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research. The current hydrological year lasts from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. Adapted from German by ...