Five climbers killed in French Alps avalanche

At least five climbers were killed on Tuesday in an avalanche in the French Alps, police said.

The avalanche occurred in the Massif des Ecrins on the slopes of the mountain Dome des neiges des Ecrins earlier in the day.

Two other climbers were reported missing in the avalanche, announced Pierre Besnard, governor of the Hautes-Alples department.

"There might be five deaths and two missing. One person might be fine or slightly injured," Xinhua news agency quoted Besnard as saying.

The victims were two Germans and three from the Czech Republic, according to the Le Parisien newspaper, which added that a Polish national was among those injured.

 

A search and rescue operation, led by the High Mountain Gendarmerie Squad, was ongoing.