BBC reports Italian authorities have closed roads and evacuated mountain huts ahead of a warning that a glacier on Mont Blanc could collapse releasing 250,000 cubic meters of ice whatever lies below it.
Mayor Stefano Miserocchi signed an order closing roads in the Val Ferret on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, after experts warned that a section of The Planpincieux glacier on the Grandes Jorasses peak was sliding at speeds of 50-60cm (16-23in) per day.
It is impossible to predict exactly when the mass of ice might collapse but evacuations are being taken seriously. There was no threat to residential areas or tourist facilities but mountain huts in the Rochefort are off limits.