Astonishing moment Alpine village vanishes in a cloud of snow
This is the astonishing moment an Alpine village vanishes under a cloud of snow as an enormous avalanche engulfs buildings in mere seconds. The avalanche hit Leukerbad, a village laying in the foothills of the Rinderhorn mountains in the Swiss Alps.Footage shows a cloud of snow rapidly sweeping over houses leaving the entire village covered. One witness, Nicola, said: 'We were looking out the window, then we saw this mega-avalanche. The children were startled but we reassured them.'The video, posted on Instagram by the region's police, is captioned: 'Dust cloud during controlled avalanche blasting in Leukerbad.' Leukerbad in Valais, southwest Switzerland has been placed under a level 5 avalanche alert with huge snowfall and strong winds creating highly unstable conditions.It comes as a wave of winter storms hit Europe, with 86 people including at least four Brits killed this season as severe snowfall and unstable mountain conditions wreak havoc across the Alps and beyond. An avalanche in Valais caused a Swiss passenger train to derail on Monday, injuring five people. The avalanche hit Leukerbad, a village laying in the foothills of the Rinderhorn mountains in the Swiss Alps The Alpine village vanishes under a cloud of snow as an enormous avalanche engulfs buildings in mere seconds Footage shows a cloud of snow rapidly sweeping over houses leaving the entire village coveredFrance has recorded the highest toll so far this season with 25 deaths, followed by Italy with 21 and Austria with 14, while Switzerland has lost nine and Spain eight.Slovakia reported four deaths and Slovenia three, with a single death in Andorra.The vast majority of victims were caught in wind slab avalanches or collapses linked to persistent weak layers buried deep within the snow, often triggered after fresh downfalls.Most were skiing off piste or travelling in backcountry terrain, with others killed while mountaineering, climbing or hiking.At least four Brits have been killed, with the latest tragedy taking place on Tuesday, when a British man died in the Alps after an avalanche hit a group of five off-piste skiers and their guide near a French resort.The slide struck the Côte Fine couloir in La Grave on Tuesday morning.Two skiers were found in cardiorespiratory arrest and later pronounced dead, according to Marion Lozac'Hmeur, Public Prosecutor of Gap.Two other British skiers as well as a French national were killed in an avalanche in the upmarket French Alpine resort of Val d’Isere on Friday.Emergency services responded quickly but could not save their lives although they all had avalanche transceivers.This unfolded less than 24 hours after the Savoie region was placed on a rare red avalanche alert - a warning level issued only twice before in the 25 years since its introduction.
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Astonishing moment Alpine village vanishes as enormous avalanche engulfs buildings in seconds following wave of winter storms
