Two French ski patrollers were killed on Sunday during an avalanche mitigation route that turned horribly wrong. French police are reporting that the two men were killed around 8:30am on Sunday morning at the Morillon ski area.

Related: Meanwhile in Austria…

The patrollers were bombing certain slopes prior to the slopes opening to the public. Police officers are investigating the scene to determine the cause of the accident. The avalanche risk at the time was “high” following heavy overnight snowfall.

At least 26 people have died in weather-related incidents across Europe this year as heavy snow has blanketed parts of the region. Two ski patrollers were killed when the devices they use to trigger controlled avalanches accidentally exploded: https://t.co/G7MIhmuEHz pic.twitter.com/H3dwbb7EzQ — Sky News (@SkyNews) January 13, 2019

Over a dozen people have perished in avalanche-related incidents since the New Year in the alps and avalanche danger continues to pervade a large swath of the higher elevations of central and eastern Switzerland/Austria.

*Our thoughts are with the patrollers’ friends and family at this time.