Overview

• An evening rockfall on August 20 struck a family car on the RN205 at km 17 between Chamonix and Passy, killing the two rear passengers and injuring the two adults in front.
• The victims were identified as Hugo and Valentine, both 23 and from Oisemont in the Somme, who were returning from the Parc Animalier de Merlet while on vacation in Haute-Savoie.
• Authorities closed the downhill carriageway toward Passy for about ten days for sondages and securisation, while traffic now uses the Viaduc des Egratz in both directions and Mont-Blanc Tunnel freight has resumed.
• The response mobilized 36 firefighters and about 21 law-enforcement officers, and a judicial inquiry into the causes of death was opened by the Bonneville prosecutor’s office and assigned to the Chamonix investigations unit.
• A CNRS geomorphologist described the sector as highly fractured with existing protections and noted a heat spell followed by significant rain may have contributed to the detachment.