An Italian mountaineer has been killed by a falling block of ice near Mont Blanc in the French Alps, while his climbing partner was rescued, officials said on Monday.
The 38-year-old man climbing Mont Blanc du Tacul, one of the routes to the summit of Mont Blanc, on Sunday when a serac a large block of ice broke loose and swept away the two climbers, a member of the Chamonix mountain police told AFP.
Rescuers recovered one of the two mountaineers by helicopter. He is in good health but shaken by the accident, the said.