Colorado girl is feared dead after being buried under 50ft-deep avalanche skiing on school trip

An American teenager is feared dead after being buried by a ‘massive’ 15m deep avalanche while skiing on a school trip in the Bernese Alps.

Colorado-born Emily Franciose, a senior at Ecole d’Humanité boarding school, has still not been found after she became trapped under the 600-foot-wide avalanche on the Gstelliwang escarpment in Bern, Switzerland.

Franciose was skiing with her classmates when tragedy struck at 4:25 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21. The school confirmed yesterday that another student, an 18-year-old British boy who was with Emily at the time, has died on the mountain.

According to social media reports, Swiss rescue teams have found Emily’s backpack in the mounds of snow, but have not uncovered her body.

Officials and Emily’s loved ones are said to have determined that there was “no chance of survival” and that recovery of her body may not be possible until spring.

Tommy Johnson posted a message on Instagram suggesting that Franciose has still not been found and that her parents, Reg and Sue, have been told there is “no chance of survival and has been definitively killed”

Franciose’s mother, Sue, had shared a Facebook photo last August of her daughter celebrating the start of her senior year at the prestigious Swiss boarding school Ecole d’Humanité.

She wrote, “The senior year of high school has begun…. The background is a bit different.’

Franciose took pictures on the slopes until March 14 and posted about the ski trip on social media.

Devastated teachers at the $70,000-a-year school revealed they were “deeply saddened” after the news that the 18-year-old British student had died.

They have not made a public statement about Emily as rescue teams continue to search for her this weekend.

Seven students were on a ski tour when an avalanche hit the Gstelliwang ski slope near Meiringen on March 21.

The body of the male British student was found while a search was underway for Franciose, who is also believed to be buried under the snow. Neither has been mentioned by Swiss officials.

The school said in a statement that the “highly experienced group” had taken precautions for a ski tour and provided students with avalanche transceivers, probes and shovels.

Search and rescue efforts began immediately, but “all help came too late” for the 18-year-old Briton, the school said in a message to parents.

Franciose had taken pictures of the skiing trip. Devastated teachers at the $70,000-a-year school revealed they were “deeply saddened” after the news that the 18-year-old British student had died. They have not made a public statement about Emily as rescue teams continue to search for her this weekend

Franciose’s last Instagram post appeared on Feb. 19

Seven students from the prestigious Swiss boarding school Ecole d’Humanité were on a ski tour when an avalanche hit Gstelliwang near Meiringen on Tuesday, March 21 at 4:25 p.m. (photo: the search for the buried American student)

The school said in a statement that the “highly experienced group” had taken precautions for a ski tour and provided students with avalanche transceivers, probes and shovels. Search and rescue began immediately, but ‘any help came too late’ for the 18-year-old Briton, the school (pictured) said in a message to parents

The school statement on the tragedy read: ‘We regret this terrible accident and are deeply saddened. We extend our sincere condolences and sympathy to all students, their families and relatives.’

The search for the second buried student is still ongoing after being interrupted around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday and not continuing until daylight the following day, though it appears to have since been called off.

The 18-year-old Briton who died in the avalanche was originally from England, but lived in Bern, where he attended the prestigious international school.

The school in the town of Hasliberg is a short distance from the Gstelliwang ski slope on the Wellhorn mountain in the area of ​​Meiringen, the next town.

The deadly avalanche hit around 4:25 p.m. Mountain rescue teams and a helicopter were deployed to assist survivors.

The two students, who were on a ski tour with a mountain guide, a youth and sports leader and three other outside persons, were on their way to the Gstelliwang slope when an avalanche hit and buried them both, according to the cantonal police in Bern.

Swiss Alpine Rescue Rega crews, Swiss Alpine Rescue, several Rega, Air-Glaciers and Swiss Helicopter helicopters, mountain specialists and other employees of the Canton of Bern Police and Canton of Bern Care Team are currently looking for the second person.

The school has announced that a care team has been available for those who need it since Tuesday evening.

It added: ‘People are also on hand for psychological care, including individual bereavement counselling. This integral guidance continues until the students leave.’

The Gstelliwang escarpment where the avalanche struck is located at the foot of the Wellhorn’s northwest face.

According to a Swiss topographical map, it is assigned the height of almost 2118 meters.

In summer and winter, however, you can still climb almost 400 meters to the foot of the Northwest Face of the Wellhorn.

The school said in a statement that the “highly experienced group” had taken the necessary precautions for a ski trip, such as taking the avalanche forecast into account and equipping students with avalanche transceivers, probes and shovels.