A young seasonal ski worker died today after being sucked into a snow clearing machine in the Pyrenees.
The horrific accident happened in the early morning in the French resort of Les Angles, which is currently packed with holidaymakers.
Local mayor Michel Poudade said there was “complete bafflement” as to what happened. “The driver of the machine is in a terrible state, he is not coping well at all,” Mr Poudade added.
There was speculation that the woman, who was in her early 20s, may have been lying in the snow following an unrelated accident, or simply walked out of the driver’s range of vision.
A fleet of snow-clearing vehicles had been sent out to clear the roads of the ski resort in the early hours following heavy dumps.
Nobody noticed the woman’s body being sucked into the machine. The driver only made the macabre discovery when his plough’s engine started to play up.
He immediately called emergency services, but paramedics who arrived on the scene confirmed the woman was dead.
The woman’s identity or nationality has not been revealed, with local police saying “everything is being done to contact her next of kin.”
