Eight feared dead in avalanche

Hope was fading fast last night for eight mountaineers missing near Mont Blanc after a powerful avalanche caused one of the worst accidents to hit the French Alps in decades. More than 15 hours after a large chunk of ice broke off from the mountain and prompted the pre-dawn avalanche, five Austrian and three Swiss climbers had still not been recovered from the slopes of Mont Blanc du Tacul. Regis Lavergne, a... [read full story]