Four dead, five missing in French Alps avalanche

lyon — At least four skiers were killed and five were missing in the French Alps on Monday after a massive avalanche swept through Tignes ski resort, rescue workers said.

The huge cascade of snow and ice, some 400 metres wide, was apparently set off by a group of skiers higher up the mountain, the station said in a statement.

The four victims were from a group of nine people — eight holidaymakers and a guide — who were skiing off-piste when the avalanche hit.

A rescue official from the nearby town of Albertville said a search was under way for the five others.

The five were initially feared buried under a huge mass of snow but it later emerged that the group may have split in two before the avalanche, meaning they may have escaped the accident.

The avalanche was the deadliest of its kind in the French Alps since the start of the winter.

Last month, 29 people died in Italy after an avalanche buried a hotel in the central town of Rigopiano.

Staff in Tignes, which is situated near the Italian border, witnessed the wall of snow barrel down the mountain and raised the alarm at around 10:35am on Monday.

Rescue workers and sniffer dogs backed by two helicopters rushed to the scene, located at an altitude of 2,100 metres.

They initially said they had found two people dead and two alive.

The police said the two found alive appeared to have died shortly after being rescued.

Monday’s avalanche risk in the area was listed as three on a scale of five, meaning there was little risk of a spontaneous largescale avalanche.

The ski station said it was a “slab” avalanche, caused when dense wind-packed snow breaks off. —