One dead in ice block collapse in French Alps

PARIS (Reuters) – One person died and four were injured on Monday when a large block of ice collapsed near a group of 15 mountaineers in the Mont Blanc area of the French Alps, the local prefecture said.

Rescue teams used a helicopter and dogs to reach the mountaineers who were at 4,100 meters (13,450 feet) when the accident occurred in the early hours of the morning, the prefecture said in a statement.

A prefecture official said that the person who died was French and the nationalities of the other people involved in the accident remained to be determined.