LYON, April 10, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - A fifth person has been found dead and one 
is still missing after an avalanche near Mont Blanc in southeastern France, 
the local prosecutor's office said Monday.

One of the country's deadliest avalanches in years swept down the Armancette 
glacier on Sunday in the Alps, killing two mountain guides and engulfing 
around 15 people.

After the discovery of four victims on Sunday, prosecutor Karline Bouisset 
said the body of a 39-year-old woman had been found and "a sixth person is 
still missing."

One person suffered slight injuries in the avalanche while eight others also 
swept up were unharmed, the prefecture said.

The avalanche covered an area of 1,600 metres (nearly one mile) by 500 
metres.

Skiing conditions had been "good" on Easter Sunday, the mayor of the town of 
Contamines-Montjoie, Francois Barbier, told AFP.

"I think it's the most deadly avalanche this season."

No avalanche warning had been issued for the region by weather authority 
Meteo France, but a combination of warmth and wind may have been behind the 
disaster, according to the prefecture.

"We're thinking of (the victims) as well as of their families," President 
Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter.

Two brothers died in an avalanche on the same glacier in 2014, both were 
experienced climbers in their 20s.