Mont Blanc glacier melt yields decades-old Indian newspapers that could be from 1966 plane crash

Local cafe owner stumbles upon trove of decades-old newspapers documenting former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's ascent to power
The collection of about a dozen newspapers was discovered last week by Timothee Mottin
AFP via Getty Images
David Child13 July 2020

The Mont Blanc glacier has yielded yet more secrets as it melts, revealing a clutch of newspapers dated from 1966 featuring banner headlines announcing Indira Gandhi's election as India's first female prime minister.

The copies of the Indian newspapers the National Herald and the Economic Times were probably first scattered in the French Alps from the cabin of an Air India Boeing 707 that crashed in the area on January 24, 1966, killing 177 people.

The collection of about a dozen newspapers was discovered last week by Timothee Mottin, who runs a cafe-restaurant, La Cabane du Cerro, at an altitude of 1,350 metres (4,455 feet) near the Chamonix skiing hub.

“They are drying now but they are in very good condition,” Mr Mottin, 33, said. “You can read them.”

Thimotee Mottin runs a cafe-restaurant, La Cabane du Cerro, at an altitude of 1,350 metres (4,455 feet) near the Chamonix skiing hub
AFP via Getty Images

Mr Mottin's cafe is located some 45 minutes by foot from the Bossons glacier, where the plane named after the Himalayan peak of Kangchenjunga mysteriously crashed.

He said he was lucky to discover the papers when he did because the ice in which they had been encased for nearly six decades had probably just melted.

Once the papers have thawed out, they will join a growing collection of items from the crash that Mr Mottin has put on display at his cafe.

The cafe owner said he would rather share his discoveries with visitors than "hide them in an attic waiting to sell them" - something he suggested had become a business for some climbers in the area

The latest find came after an earlier discovery of human remains in the region in 2017 which could have come from the 1966 crash or that of another Indian plane, the Malabar Princess, that came down in the same area in 1950.

But the most remarkable find so far was the 2013 discovery of a box of emeralds, sapphires and rubies worth between 130,000 and 246,000 euros ($145,000-$275,000). The items are thought to have come from the 1966 crash.

Agencies have contributed to this report.

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