BREAKING: ‘THIRTY’ skiers are buried in avalanche at French ski resort

A ‘mass of snow and ice’ hit the Carline piste in the Val Claret area of Tignes, in the Savoie department of France, covering ‘numerous people on the slopes’.

Up to 30 skiers are feared to have been buried in snow after a ‘hugely violent’ avalanche struck in a French ski resort popular with British holidaymakers today.

Hundreds of skiers and snowboarders were setting off for a day’s skiing when the avalanche struck, according to an emergency services worker at the scene. A major search operation is underway.

‘There had been avalanche warnings, but this was on a monitored piste. Conditions are making searches difficult,’ the worker said.

A rescue helicopter has reportedly been scrambled to the scene, along with sniffer dogs and police search teams. But as high winds and heavy snow continued, the gendarmerie helicopter was unable to land.

High mountain search teams were instead having to get to the disaster zone by road, and then on foot.

The avalanche covered an area around the start of the Tichot chair lift, where skiers and snowboarders had been queuing up.

Source: ‘THIRTY’ skiers buried in avalanche at French ski resort | Daily Mail Online