A first hit two groups near Valloire. The second broke off from Mount Pourri, almost 3,800 meters high, south of Bourg-Saint-Maurice Seven people died in the French Alps, victims of avalanches in two different locations in Savoy. A first avalanche hit two groups near the town of Valloire, killing four people, according to reports from the local prefecture. Rescue teams used two helicopters and search dogs to rescue the victims of the avalanche, which struck near the Galibier pass. The second avalanche broke off the almost 3,800-meter-high Mount Pourri south of Bourg-Saint-Maurice, engulfing another group of hikers, three of whom died. Prefect Pascal Bolot has called for extreme caution, as the possibility of new avalanches is expected for Sunday. The prefecture had already made such an appeal on Friday, speaking of a “very high” risk of avalanches for the weekend. Thus the number of victims of fatal accidents in the mountains rises to 12 this week in France.