At least six people have been killed and eight injured in the French Alps by the most deadly avalanche in recent years.
Mountain police said two roped groups of 28 climbers had been hit by the avalanche, which happened in the Mont Blanc massif close to the popular resort of Chamonix.
They were believed to be from Britain, Germany, Spain and Switzerland but the nationalities of the dead and injured has not been confirmed.
One of the injured raised the alarm in the early hours of this morning, but police said they were still searching for missing climbers six hours later. The injured were air-lifted to hospital and a helicopter and heat-seeking devices are being deployed to search for the missing.
The accident happened as they were scaling Mont Maudit, the third highest peak in the Mont Blanc massif, which reaches an altitude of 4,465m.
