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Rescue workers are continuing to search for people swept down the mountain by the avalanche
At least four people have died in an avalanche at the ski resort of Tignes in south-eastern France, rescuers say.
A group of nine was buried after the wall of snow swept through an off-piste area, police say, with the other five people still missing.
The group was reportedly made up of eight skiers and a guide.
The 400-metre (1,300ft) wide avalanche occurred at an altitude of 2,100 metres, and struck at a particularly busy time during half-term holidays.
“Five people are still buried under a huge mass of snow,” said a rescue official from nearby Albertville.
The resort is popular with British holidaymakers, but local police have told the BBC that the four dead skiers were all French nationals.
The avalanche appeared to have been set off by a group of skiers higher up, the ski station said in a statement.
Rescue services deployed two helicopters as well as sniffer dogs to help search for the missing skiers.
The incident is the worst in France since the beginning of this year’s ski season.
The avalanche warning level at Tignes on Monday was three out of five, France’s Dauphine Libere reported.
There were 13 previous skiing accidents in the Alps and Pyrenees this winter, killing three people.
Last winter, there were 45 accidents, causing 21 deaths.
BBC