Lhe deluge of rain which hit the region that night had tragic consequences for the participants of this race in Haute-Savoie, which was to welcome more than 4,100 runners. One person lost his life and three others were injured, two of them seriously, according to corroborating sources reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The balance sheet
The public prosecutor of Bonneville, Karline Bouisset, took stock of the accident: “one dead and three injured, two of whom were seriously but without a life-threatening condition”. The alert was triggered on Saturday at 4:35 a.m., when four competitors fell in a mountainous area made slippery by the weather conditions, she said in a press release.
“I saw the victims fall before my eyes and disappear into the darkness of the void. It was pitch black. It’s the first time in my life that I was afraid of dying,” David Varlez, a 46-year-old trail runner, told Le Parisien. He was on the descent from Pointe d’Angolon at the time of the accident.
The start of the Ultra-trail du Haut-Giffre, a 90-kilometer race, was given at 11:45 p.m. in Samoëns (Haute-Savoie). A man born in 1972 died of cardio-respiratory arrest during the race. “The exact reasons for his death will be determined by the required autopsy,” said the prosecutor.
The three other victims, also men, suffered in particular from head trauma. One of them, born in 1986, was airlifted to Annecy hospital. Another, born in 1971, was airlifted to the Alpes-Leman hospital center. The last victim, a man born in 1976, more slightly injured, was evacuated by road to Sallanches, according to Ms. Bouisset.
“All races have been stopped or canceled,” she announced. Several people were treated for hypothermia, according to the prefecture, which highlighted the difficult conditions of care by the PGHM (high mountain gendarmerie platoon) and the departmental fire and rescue service, due to the rugged terrain and bad weather conditions. “We had significant rainfall between 2 a.m. and 9 a.m., combined with low temperatures,” she added.
“This Angolon descent was an ice rink. Everyone slipped, skidded, ended up on their butts. Chaos. People were screaming. We wanted to tell the volunteers at the top of the mountain that we had to stop the race, that it was no longer possible,” added David Varlez.
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“When we take part in an organized race, in principle we trust”
Since this dramatic accident, many participants have criticized the organization’s decision to maintain this event despite the dire weather conditions. “Why was the start given? The organization did not have access to weather forecasts,” one of them complained to the Parisian.
” I’m mad. I saw before my eyes people falling 300 meters and getting hurt and screaming in fear. (…) You put us in danger. When we take part in an organized race, in principle we trust,” explains one of them.
In the columns of Dauphinéother participants, more seasoned, do not seem so inclined to want to attribute responsibility for the accident to the organizers, and point to the personal responsibility of the participants.
“You are on limestone soil, which does not absorb the water that falls and only dries very slowly. The terrain is, therefore, very slippery. You must be able, at that moment, to give up if you don’t feel it,” said one of them.
A second interviewee goes in the same direction and deplores a lack of knowledge of this type of terrain for neo-ultra-trailers. “It’s complicated to say that one person or another is responsible,” he begins.
“On the other hand, there has been something quite new in recent years in trail running: we see more and more runners who have complete confidence in the organization. As they do not know the mountainous terrain well, if at all, they rely 100% on the organizers and become like sheep! They forget everyone’s responsibility,” he insists.
Open investigation
The investigation, opened for “search for the causes of death” and “endangering the lives of others”, was entrusted to the Bonneville research brigade with the support of the PGHM of Chamonix, in order to do all shed light on the precise circumstances of these accidents and to establish or rule out possible criminal liability.
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