5 skiers killed in French Alps avalanches

Avalanches in the French Alps have claimed the lives of five skiers, including four Norwegians and one Swiss, after off-piste snow slides hit the Savoie and Haute-Savoie regions.

In Val-Cenis, near the Italian border, four Norwegian skiers were caught in a massive avalanche while ski touring, French daily Le Parisien reported on Wednesday.

Three died at the scene, while a fourth, a woman, succumbed to her injuries at a hospital in Grenoble after suffering cardiorespiratory arrest and severe hypothermia, officials in Savoie said. Three others in the group survived unharmed.

"It was an avalanche of great size, which was triggered outside the ski area," the daily quoted Val-Cenis Mayor Jacques Arnoux as saying.

All members of the group were equipped with avalanche beacons. A team of 10 high-mountain rescue specialists participated in the recovery operation, according to police sources.

Meanwhile, in Haute-Savoie, a 30-year-old Swiss woman was killed by an avalanche while skiing off-piste on the north face of the Aiguillette des Posettes in the Mont Blanc massif.

Her father was unharmed, while her brother was taken to the hospital for evaluation, the Bonneville prosecutor's office said.

The trio had been using transceivers and anti-avalanche airbags at the time of the accident, authorities added.