Tignes avalanche: Four skiers dead and five still buried in Alps

Four people have been killed and another five are missing after a 1,300ft-wide avalanche struck one of the most popular ski resorts in the French Alps.

France Info reports eight skiers, including a family of five, and an instructor were caught up when the avalanche hit the off-piste Toviere slope of the Tignes ski resort shortly after 10.30am local time.

Rescuers initially found two bodies, while another two victims were pulled from the snowdrift alive but died a short time later. The ski instructor was among the four, according to local newspaper Le Dauphine.

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More than 40 ski patrollers, who provide emergency medical and rescue services, are using sniffer dogs and machinery to search for the five people still missing.

However, officials say the chances of finding any of them alive are "slim", while police from nearby Courchevel say there is "no hope".

The identities of the dead and missing have yet to be formally confirmed, but authorities believe the group were French.

"The avalanche was apparently triggered by skiers higher up the slopes," the Daily Telegraph reports.

On a scale of one to five, the risk of avalanches at the resort was rated three, or "considerable" when the tragedy occurred.

This is the busiest week of the year at Tignes, with thousands of families flocking to the slopes during the half-term holiday.

It is the deadliest avalanche to strike France since January 2016, when 11 soldiers were buried while training in Valfrejus, 30 miles from Tignes. Six were killed, while the remaining five escaped.

Since the start of the 2016/2017 ski season, three people have been killed as a result of avalanches in the Alps and the Pyrenees, Le Dauphine reports.