On Tuesday, January 26, the 2nd Foreign Engineer Regiment (2e REG) of the Foreign Legion conducted a ceremony to pay homage to their comrades, the six legionnaires killed in the French Alps in an avalanche.
The legionnaires were caught by an avalanche on January 18, while crossing a saddle of the Petit Argentier in the French Alps, during a mountain warfare basic training. Five legionnaires died immediately. The sixth legionnaire died a week later in the hospital. All of them were assigned to the 3rd Company, 2e REG.
The French Army specified that those killed legionnaires were:
- Caporal Touré LAMARANA (a Malagasy aged 33, who received the French citizenship after 5 years of service spent in the Legion), joining the Legion in April 2008
- Légionnaire de 1re classe Samuel SIMI (an Italian aged 26), joining the Legion in July 2013
- Legionnaire Lal Bahadur KHAPANGI (a Nepalese aged 24), joining the Legion in August 2014
- Legionnaire Gheorghe PALADE (a Moldovan aged 21), joining the Legion in January 2015
- Legionnaire Denis HALILI (an Albanian aged 21), joining the Legion in July 2015
- Légionnaire de 1re classe David HETENYI (a Hungarian aged 23), joining the Legion in December 2014 (the sixth one)
The ceremony took place at the Quartier Maréchal Koenig, the headquarters of the 2e REG located at Saint Christol, southeastern France.
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Photo source: Hommage aux légionnaires du 2e REG
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