New drama on the rivers of Hautes-Alpes this Sunday, June 16. A little before 2 p.m., nine firefighters from the fire and rescue centers of L’Argentière-la-Bessée, Laragne-Montéglin, Savines-le-Lac, and Puy-Saint-Vincent, assisted by the Fire Department Urgent medical aid (Samu) were hired to come to the aid of a kayaker who found himself in difficulty on the Gyr river, near the EDF dam in the commune of Vallouise.
Despite the resuscitation measures carried out by the emergency services, this 62-year-old English national was declared dead. Also on site, the national gendarmerie should, as is customary in these situations, carry out an investigation in order to determine the exact circumstances of this fatal accident.
This is the second time in a short time that emergency services have intervened for the benefit of British nationals enjoying whitewater activities in the Hautes-Alpes. At 3 p.m., this Monday, June 10, 28 firefighters were mobilized to rescue a group of English kayakers in difficulty in the Durance, between Briançon and the place called Le Villaret in Saint-Martin-de-Queyrières.
With the reinforcement of the municipal and national police of Briançon, as well as the Haute-Montagne Gendarmerie Platoon which notably hired a helicopter and a drone pilot, the emergency services were able to remove ten kayakers from the water, unharmed. One of them was found at the Villaret bridge, and was declared dead despite numerous resuscitation attempts.
