Police investigate teacher whose students died in Alps Avalanche
Investigators are examining why a teacher took schoolchildren to a closed ski slope minutes before an Avalanche hit the area, killing two of his students
Investigators in the French Alps are examining why a teacher apparently took schoolchildren on to a closed ski run shortly before a deadly avalanche, the BBC has reported.
Two French students and a Ukrainian tourist were killed in the disastrous incident yesterday in Les Deux Alpes area on Wednesday.
The two victims were a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl from Saint-Exupery high school in Lyon.
According to reports, three others, including the teacher himself were injured in the accident. The teacher is currently still unconscious after suffering multiple broken bones.
Reports add that the piste, which has the most difficult black rating, had been closed since the beginning of the ski season because of a lack of snow. Officials have said the danger had been well signposted, with netting blocking the top of the run, and the Minister for Sport and Youth, told Europe 1 that the reason why the teacher, took them on to the closed run... is something the judicial inquiry will establish
Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem promised an investigation would "throw all light" on the circumstances of the tragedy, during her visit to the school, where she expressed her condolences to the victims' families and urged their peers to "stay strong".
The BBC adds that a huge rescue operation was launched after the avalanche struck the group of 10 teenagers, their teacher and the 57-year-old Ukrainian, on the Bellecombe piste at about 15:45.
According to reports, large quantities of snow have fallen on the French Alps in recent days, raising the risk of avalanches.
Meanwhile, students and their families lit candles and laid tributes as remaining members of the ski party returned to the school in Lyon on Wednesday evening.
