- A tourist crashed through a ski-lift window and fell to his death in the French Alps.
- The man, 29, fell 130 feet and landed on a piste marker, The Independent reports.
A man fell 130 feet to his death from a ski-lift window in the French Alps on Saturday.
The unidentified man, 29, was traveling down a mountain inside an enclosed ski lift in the Deux Alpes resort in Grenoble with a friend when he smashed through the plexiglass window, Grenoble prosecutor Eric Vaillant told The Independent's Andy Gregory on Monday. News of the incident was first reported on Saturday by French media outlets Le Dauphiné Libéré and France Bleu, The Independent added.
The man landed on a piste marker, the Grenoble prosecutor's office told The Independent.
The man, from Annonay in France's Ardèche region, was accompanied by a friend, a 23-year-old man, in the ski lift before the accident took place, according to France Bleu. The two men were filming themselves inside the lift and were thought to be drunk when the incident occurred, Vaillant said in French in a statement issued to Insider.
"As indicated in the France Bleu article, two young men aged 29 and 23, who were drunk, were messing around in the gondola and the 29-year-old crossed the plexiglass wall and fell 40 meters to his death. The scene was filmed by his friend on his phone," Vaillant said in a statement issued to Insider in French by the Grenoble prosecutor's office.
Vaillant added that the public prosecutor's department has taken over the investigation into the death from the local La Mure police and that an examination of the ski lift is planned.
It's not clear from Vaillant's statement who thought the skiers were drunk, however a French police spokesperson told The Independent it's possible that the man "was completely drunk and running for fun against the windows of the cabin."
On Saturday, France Bleu reported that a toxicology report was underway. A spokesperson for Grenoble prosecutor's office told Insider that they could not provide further details at this time but could confirm the information provided in the France Bleu report.
Fabrice Boutet, the director of SATA, which manages the Deux-Alpes ski lifts, said that the ski lift is not to blame for the incident.
Boutet told France Bleu that the lifts were in perfect condition and had passed all of the required security tests. And speaking to French broadcaster BFM, Boutet said the cabins are designed to hold 20 people, The Independent reports. The director also told BFM that the cabin was designed to "withstand any shocks that may occur" from abrupt braking and movement, according to The Independent.
Representatives for Deux Alpes resort and Police Municipale Deux Alpes did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.