The alpine ski resort returned to normal last Friday after a spring storm, capturing four victims from the French Alps and northern Italy the day before, including a British holidaymaker.
The 27-year-old British was arrested in an avalanche of Val Thorens in the French mountains after heavy snowfall throughout the mountains.
Local prosecutor Benoit Bachelet said in a statement Friday that he was taken to Grenoble for treatment but died in a cardiac arrest.
Three people died in northern Italy on Thursday after heavy rain hit the area.
The flood took away a 64-year-old and his 33-year-old son in the Veneto region in northeast Italy.
A man from the 1990s was found dead in his flooded home in northwestern Piedmont.
“Strong and abundant rains have soaked northern Italy, turning to snowfall above 1,800 meters (5,905 feet).
The storm closed the roads, stopped trains and cut areas to France, Italy and Switzerland.
Although April snowfall is not uncommon in the Alps, the number of falling in just a few hours is unusual and surprises the authorities and residents.
Officials in certain parts of the French and Swiss Alps told residents to stay indoors on Thursday and then lift restrictions.
Avalanche alert levels were raised in several areas and several ski areas were closed. However, by Friday night, France's Meteo lowered its alert levels while still urging skiers to remain alert.
Many roads in these three countries have been closed due to the risk of tree falls or avalanches.
Heavy trucks are prohibited from using the main Monte Blue tunnel between France and Italy, and dozens of tunnels that cannot pass through the tunnel are trapped on the A43 highway connecting Italy and France.
The train was also affected, with more than 3,300 homes in France at one point and 5,000 Italian households not having the power.
“It’s really great,” said Didier Beauchet, whose retiree has lived in Savoie for 40 years.
“I must have only been five times,” he told AFP. The drivers around him worked hard to release the snow-covered car.
burs-jj/sbk
