Avalanche in French Alps Leaves 9 Dead June 12, 2012 - Nine climbers died, nine were injured and more than a dozen are missing after an avalanche today in the French Alps that authorities called "the most deadly of recent years." Dozens of rescue workers, mountain dogs and guides are searching for at least 16 others who are unaccounted for on Mont Maudit, part of the Mont Blanc range. Two helicopters and several dozen gendarmes, or military personnel, worked to pull the dead -- which included two Germans, two Swiss and two Spaniards -- and injured from the mountain. The injured were airlifted to a hospital. The European climbers were roped together in two separate groups as they attempted to climb the mountain, which is considered to be one of the most dangerous ascents in Europe amid the most lethal mountain range in the world. There were reportedly 28 people in the mountaineering group, from several countries, including Switzerland, Serbia, Germany, Spain and France. One of the injured sounded the alert at around 3:25 a.m. GMT after the avalanche struck. Five members of the group, including a guide, are now safe back down in the valley. Mont Maudit is the massif's third-highest peak, rising to an altitude of 14,650 feet. The death toll in the Alps usually numbers about 100 per year. Eight climbers -- three Swiss, one German, and four Austrian -- died August 2008 in a accident similar to today's on the nearby Mont Blanc du Tacul.