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. 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. 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 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. 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. Rescue crews, including two helicopters and sniffer dogs, initially reported that two people were dead and two were alive.
At least four skiers are killed in an avalanche at the Tignes resort in France.