Reports that five other skiers and boarders were missing near Alpine resort of Tignes are now thought to be incorrect

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Three members of the same family and their snowboard instructor have died in an avalanche near the busy French Alpine resort of Tignes.

The group was swept away at 10.35am local time as they boarded off-piste at an altitude of about 2,100 metres in the Savoie region of the central Alps, near the Italian border.

It was at first believed that five other skiers and boarders were missing, but on Monday, local officials said they did not believe there were other victims.

The 400 metre-wide avalanche, which struck the particularly high and steep Lavachet peak in the Tovière area, was believed to have been set off by a group of skiers higher up the mountain, the ski station said.

The avalanche was the worst to hit the Alps this season. It occurred during the school half-term holidays in France and several other European countries, including Britain, when ski resorts are typically full of children.

Another avalanche at La Clusaz early on Monday afternoon swept away a 30-year-old skier who died in hospital of his injuries.

The victims of the avalanche at Tignes were reported to be a 48-year-old French man, his 15-year-old son and the teenager’s 19-year-old half-brother, according to the emergency services. The fourth, an Ecole du Ski Français snowboard instructor was named as Laurent Ruiz, 59, an experienced mountain professional.

Local officials said they were walking through the snow carrying their snowboards to where they planned to set off down the slope when they were struck. All were reportedly equipped with tracking devices enabling them to be detected in case of an avalanche, but were declared dead when found, the Dauphiné Libéré reported.

On Monday afternoon dozens of rescuers scrabbled to find five others believed missing before nightfall, but late afternoon the local prefect told journalists: “We have good reason to believe there are no other victims.”

A fifth snowboarder reported to have been with the group “a few minutes” before the avalanche, but who escaped, was being interviewed on Monday to establish exactly what had happened.

It was later discovered that several others who were due to join the group skiing at Tovière had failed to turn up that morning as arranged, and were not with those hit by the avalanche.

Local officials declared the avalanche risk throughout the region to be high, at a rating of three out of five.



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

Before Monday, 13 accidents had been recorded in the Alps and Pyrenees so far this winter, claiming a total of three lives.

One of the worst avalanches in France in the past decade took place in the summer of 2012 in the Mont Blanc range. Nine climbers from Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland were killed as they tried to scale the north face of Mont Maudit.

Last month 29 people died in Italy after an avalanche buried a hotel in the central town of Rigopiano. The force of the impact has been calculated by police as being equivalent to that of 4,000 fully loaded trucks.

In January last year 11 soldiers were swept away by an avalanche as they skied near Valfréjus in the Savoie. Five were killed and a sixth died in hospital several days later.</s>Snow-related deaths in France and mass evacuations near a California dam are the top trends across Facebook and Twitter on Monday.

An avalanche on the French Alps has killed at least four people, while heavy rainfall in California has created the potential for a massive dam failure and forced nearly 190,000 people to flee their homes.

Social Cues is our look at what people are talking about across social media. Here's what is trending on Monday morning:

Oroville Dam: Northern California officials ordered an evacuation Sunday for residents near the country's tallest dam. The 770-foot-tall dam's emergency spillway has suffered erosion and is at risk of letting a 30-foot high wall of water break through from Lake Oroville. The dam was trending on both Facebook and Twitter amid the rush to prevent a disaster of vast proportions.

French Alps: An avalanche in Tignes, France, killed at least four people near a ski resort on Monday. Both Tignes, France and the French Alps are trending on Facebook and Twitter, respectively. Emergency workers are trying to save five known survivors who are trapped. The avalanche was reported to be about 400 yards wide.

United States Department of Education: Five days after Betsy DeVos was confirmed as education secretary, the department is facing social media scorn for a glaring mistake. In a now-deleted tweet from Sunday, the @usedgov account misspelled the name of the late W.E.B. Du Bois, a historian and civil rights activist. The department reposted the tweet with the proper spelling, but people have been flooding the account with screenshots of the typo. Both the Department of Education and Du Bois are trending on Facebook as well.

Alternative for Germany: The right-wing party Alternative for Germany has voted to kick out one of its own leaders after his remarks about a Berlin memorial for victims of the Holocaust. Bjoern Hoecke called the memorial a "monument of shame" and encouraged Germans to embrace all their history with a positive attitude. His statements went too far, even for the anti-immigration party, which voted to oust him. The vote is trending on Facebook as Germany's election season approaches.

Sandusky: The Ohio city, not the disgraced Penn State coach, is trending on Twitter after Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced he will give the 2017 State of the State address there. The news is trending across Twitter as people mistakenly wonder what Kasich has to do with Jerry Sandusky.

Be sure to check out Social Cues' weekly roundup called T.GIF. It pops up every Friday on CNET's Snapchat and Instagram accounts. Add us on Instagram at @CNET or on Snapchat at @CNETsnaps. Our social accounts also feature CNET Update daily and Mailbox Mondays. Join us!

It's Complicated: This is dating in the age of apps. Having fun yet? These stories get to the heart of the matter.

Batteries Not Included: The CNET team reminds us why tech is cool.</s>(CNN) -- At least four people have been killed after an avalanche buried nine at the ski resort of Tignes in the French Alps, CNN affiliate BMFTV reported, citing mountain rescue officials.

A mountain guide and eight skiers were swept away Monday in an off-piste part of the resort 2,100 meters above sea level, rescuers said.

The avalanche was 400 meters wide and there is "little hope" of finding people still alive, Emmanuel Dubost from the French National Police's general reserve said.

Rescuers have deployed dog teams and two medical helicopters are on standby for the five people who remain missing.

The Tignes resort website had the risk of an avalanche at a significant 3 out of 5 on Monday.

Tignes is in eastern France close to the Italian border.</s>At least four people have been killed and five others are missing after being buried by an avalanche at the French Alps ski resort of Tignes on Monday.

A spokeswoman at the resort’s ski station confirmed the deaths and said the missing were a ski instructor and a family of four, though she did not know if children were among them.

Rescuers said that a guide and eight other skiers were swept away in an off-piste part of the resort 2,100 meters above sea level, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported.

The avalanche was 400 meters wide and there is “little hope” of finding people still alive, Emmanuel Dubost from the French National Police’s general reserve said.

A team of 40 rescuers are scouring the area for the missing and have deployed dog teams in the operation. Two medical helicopters are also on standby.

The Tignes resort website had the risk of an avalanche at a significant 3 out of 5 on Monday. Travel companies are warning skiers not to go off-piste without a professional guide.

Tignes is in eastern France close to the Italian border.</s>Rescuers have said an avalanche in the French Alpine Ski resort of Tignes has killed at least four.

An avalanche swept through an off-piste area of the resort, a group of nine was buried. Police say five people are still missing.

It has been reported that the group was made up of eight skiers and one guide.

The avalanche occurred at an altitude of 2,100 metres, it also struck at a busy time during the half-term holidays.

A rescue official from nearby Albertville, said: “Five people are still buried under a huge mass of snow,”

The ski station said in a statement that the avalanche appeared to have been set off by a group of skiers higher up.

Two helicopters are out looking for skiers as well as sniffer dogs.

This avalanche has been the worst France has seen since the beginning of the season.

France’s Dauphine Libere reported, that the resort had an avalanche warning of three out of five on Monday.</s>At least four people are feared dead after an avalanche near the French ski resort of Tignes.

Approximately nine people are believed to have been swept away by the snowslide on Monday, according to local media.

Authorities said emergency services were looking for other survivors from the skiing party which was struck while on an off-piste slope.

With French schools enjoying half-term holidays, the avalanche came at a particularly busy time for skiing destinations across the country.

Tignes, situated in south-eastern France near the Italian border, was the venue for the freestyle skiing at 1992 Winter Olympics.</s>At least four people have died in an avalanche that swept away a group of nine in an off-piste area near the ski resort of Tignes in the French Alps, rescue services have said.

Two people have been pulled out alive, they said, adding that the avalanche was 400 metres wide. Three people remain unaccounted for.

The accident near Tignes, a major resort near the Italian border, occurred at an altitude of 6,900ft (2,100 metres).</s>Four people were killed and five were buried under snow on Monday when an avalanche slammed a ski resort in the French Alps, according to published reports.

The nine people were enjoying a day on the slopes of Tignes in south-eastern France, when the avalanche swept through the area around 11 a.m., The Independent reported.

Eight of the victims were tourists and the ninth was a mountain guide, The Daily Mail said.

Rescue crews, including two helicopters and sniffer dogs, initially reported that two people were dead and two were alive. They later amended their statement, saying that all four were dead.

“Five people are still buried under a huge mass of snow,” one rescue official said.

The death toll is expected to rise, officials fear.

The massive avalanche, which was the worst so far this winter in France, was triggered by skiers high up on a mountain peak, according to published reports.

This year, there have been 13 avalanches in the Alps and the Pyrenees, which straddles France and Spain. Three people have been killed.

Last year, there were 21 people killed during 45 avalanches.</s>At least four people have been killed in an avalanche in the French ski resort of Tignes. Emergency responders are currently searching for survivors.

Local authorities said on Monday (13 February) they were searching for a missing group of nine, a family of eight and their guide, that had been swept away by the avalanche on an off-piste slope, according to the French outlet BFMTV.

The first alarm was raised at 11:00 local time (10:00 BST) with the avalanche falling at roughly 21,100 metres above sea level.

Trackers and dog teams have been sent to the slopes with two medical helicopters ready to deal with any survivors. CRS Courchevel, which is helping in the rescue efforts, has said it is unlikely any other survivors will be recovered.

The disaster struck at a particularly busy time in the Alpine resort, when French families travel to the mountains for the half-term holidays. European ski resorts have experienced particularly hazardous skiing conditions in recent weeks with a high risk of avalanches following large volumes of snowfall.

The landslide follows a particularly treacherous weekend in the French Alps. Since Sunday two skiers have been killed in the Haute-Savoie area. In the first incident one skier was caught up in an avalanche as they skied off piste. In the second incident, just hours later, one skier in the nearby resort of La Cluza was killed.

Today, 13 February, the risk of avalanches in the mountains was placed at a level of three out of five. Since the beginning of the skiing season in December a total of 13 avalanches have led to three deaths in the Alps and the Pyrenees in France. In the 2015-16 season a total of 21 were killed in 45 different incidents.</s>An avalanche in France has left four dead and three missing after a mass of snow swept away nine people in the ski resort of Tignes, Savoie.

Rescue workers were alerted at 11am local time to the disaster which struck an off-piste slope, according to Emmanuel Dubost of the local police.

Two people have so far been pulled out alive and three remain unaccounted for, rescue services said.

A helicopter was dispatched to the area above Lake Tignes on the slope of Lavachet in the Rhône-Alpes region.

Police and emergency services were rushed to Tignes from the nearby resort of Courchevel to reinforce those already at the scene.

The avalanche was reportedly 400 metres wide and occurred at an altitude of 2,100 metres.

The Tignes piste service have said the avalanche took place in an area where the snow stacks meaning evacuation is difficult.

According to France3 finding the buried victims could take time.

The identities and nationalities of those killed have not been announced.
At least four skiers are killed in an avalanche at the Tignes resort in France.