French families rescued by helicopter in the Pyrenees mountains

Two families who went hiking in the Pyrénées mountains in southwest France were rescued by helicopter on Tuesday, according to local media. Four adults and two children, wearing only jeans and sneakers, found themselves in difficulty at the end of the afternoon and called for help.

A view of Pyrénées National Park Creative Commons/Myrabella

Rescuers in Luchon received a call around 4pm local time on Tuesday, January 1 from four adults and two children aged 9 and 11, who found themselves tired and lost, in the vallée du Lys, near Lac Vert.

As there was no helicopter with the local rescue unit, and no gendarmes available at the time, the police chief had to call a private helicopter company.

Two rescuers from Saint-Lary were finally able to take off with a pilot two hours later and fly the families to safety.

According to public radio France Bleu Occitanie, the families, from Saint-Romans-des-Champs, Niort (Deux-Sèvres) attempted a hike which was considered of a difficult level in summer, and more more so in winter, requiring a minimum amount of equipment.

However, the group were only wearing light jackets and tennis shoes.

The trail they had chosen from Lac Vert to Prat Long requires three hours of walking, with an altitude gap of 900 metres.

The weather was fine at the time, with snow at 1,800 metres.

"People see that there's not much snow and they are encouraged to go on hikes" said Pascal Thol, head of the CRS Pyrénées rescue unit.

"But these are difficult trails in winter. They don't have the right information, nor the right maps."