An avalanche in the French Alps hit a school group and other skiers on Wednesday, killing at least two people. (Photo for representational purposes only)
An avalanche in the French Alps hit a school group and other skiers on Wednesday, killing at least two people and gravely injuring at least three others, police said.
"Five people have been found and searches are still underway," the head of the police unit, Bernard Host, told Reuters.
Three of the injured were found in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest, police said.
One of the dead was a fourteen year-old member of the school group from the eastern French city of Lyon. The body of a Ukrainian skier was also found by rescue teams, a spokesman for regional police said.
The avalanche, which occurred at the Deux Alpes ski resort about 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the Italian border, happened after a large sheet of snow broke off above a black-rated slope that had been closed following several days of heavy snowfall.
© Thomson Reuters 2016