Woman ‘hiking’ in flip-flops rescued near French peak

A Dragon 74 helicopter from the sécurité civile was called to a spot close to the summit of the Dent du Chat peak - in the Jura mountain range - around 16h30 on Wednesday July 10, to a report of a Belgian hiker who had suffered a severe ankle sprain.

The woman in her 40s had been beginning her descent from the summit at around 1,500m when she got her foot stuck and twisted on a rock. She was airlifted, with her friend, to hospital in nearby Chambéry.

After it emerged that the hiker was wearing flip-flops, emergency services reminded hikers that 'appropriate equipment' was necessary

Emergency services took the opportunity to remind people that it is “recommended - necessary, even - to use appropriate equipment to hike in the Pays de Savoie”.

The Dent du Chat mountain rises to more than 1,390m above sea level, and is part of the Jura range near the Franco-Swiss border.