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HE FELL AROUND 50 METRES WHILE WALKING NEAR MONT BLANC ON SUNDAY A British hiker died near Mont Blanc on Sunday (July 9), the Chamonix mountain police have confirmed. The unnamed man, in his

fifties, fell whilst attempting a ‘difficult’ hiking path along the Bionnassay glacier, on the French side of the mountain. Despite the best efforts of emergency services, he was pronounced

dead soon after the fall. STEEP UPWARD CLIMB The Briton died on Sunday when hiking close to Mont Blanc. He was following a difficult passage from the Bionnassay glacier to a mountain

retreat hosting a gite called the Nid d’Aigle (Eagle’s Nest), facing a steep upward climb. The hike includes a sequence known as the _Échelles du Nid d'Aigle_ (Eagle’s Nest ladders),

marked as a ‘difficult’ hiking passage on a number of websites. When climbing along this segment, he fell around 50 metres. Mountain rescue services were called but were unable to prevent

his death. Sunday also saw the death of an Italian hiker in the Savoie department. He was walking along the mountain passage of the _Col du Lou_, close to the _Lac du Mont Cenis_, at an

altitude of around 3,000 metres. Hiking towards the Signal du Grand Mont-Cenis from the lake, he fell around 200 metres, and despite a medical helicopter flying to his location, he was

pronounced dead on the scene. READ ALSO WATCH: DARING HELICOPTER RESCUE SAVES BRITISH CLIMBERS IN FRENCH ALPS MONT BLANC THREE METRES SHORTER THAN IN 2010 - AND 16 MORE PEAK FACTS