The Rioumajou valley, in the Hautes-Pyrénées. – FRED SCHEIBER / SIPA
Two young people from the Paris region launched into a “Tour de France of containment”, were rescued in the middle of the night Friday
in the Pyrenees. “At one o’clock in the morning, we were called because a man was shouting in the streets of
village of Gavarnie (Hautes-Pyrénées) saying that an accident had occurred, explained Captain Julien Passeron, chief of the CRS des Hautes-Pyrénées. We were not sure what we were going on, if it was someone who had drunk too much or something…. In fact it was! “
“These were two 26-year-olds from Trappes (Yvelines) who had left the village of Gavarnie, going up under old chairlifts who have not been turning for several decades, to go up the Pic du Mourgat (2.103 meters) to see the sunset, added the captain. They saw the sunset then came back down, knowing that to light up, they only had a small dynamo lamp, which is activated by turning the crank, which is very dangerous, especially when you is on steep slopes, off trails, interspersed with rocky bars. “
Hypothermia and severe trauma
Also according to the Hautes-Pyrénées CRS, the young man who had the lamp fell and fell almost 150 meters. His friend went back down to the village to give the alarm by lighting up with his watch. The accident must have occurred between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., but it did not arrive until 1:00 a.m. in the village.
A helicopter from the Tarbes gendarmerie air detachment immediately took off in an attempt to locate the victim, who was found around 3 a.m. The young man was in a state of hypothermia and suffered from severe trauma all over his body as well as several fractures.
“A tourist confinement, a kind of Tour de France of confinement”
He was immediately transported to Tarbes hospital in serious condition, then transferred to Toulouse for surgery. His vital prognosis would not be engaged. “It’s a miracle,” says Captain Passeron. Within two hours, it was not recovered. If he had been unconscious, we probably couldn’t have found him. “
The two men explained that they were carrying out “tourist confinement, a kind of containment Tour de France. Apparently they had gone to the dune du Pilat (Gironde), then in Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and finally in Gavarnie. They were benefiting from confinement as well as from vacation, “says the head of CRS 65. They were fined and fined 135 euros each. “We are doing everything to rescue the victim, which is by far the priority. But afterwards, we are morally obliged to verbalize them. “
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