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At least three people have been killed after an avalanche struck a group of schoolchildren skiing Wednesday in a French Alps resort.
According to French officials, a group of 10 high school–age children and their teacher, as well as a Ukrainian man not part of the group, were skiing on a closed run in the Deux Alpes ski resort when they were hit by the wall of snow.
Two students, as well as the Ukrainian man, are confirmed to have died in the avalanche, according to officials in the Isère prefecture.
Three people were seriously injured, including the teacher, who has been taken to a hospital near Grenoble.
Local newspaper Le Dauphiné Liberé reported one of those killed was a 16-year-old girl who had suffered from cardiac arrest. The other deceased student, a teenage boy, died in the hospital, the newspaper reported.
The school group is from the Saint-Exupéry college in Lyon. A total of 19 students and three staff were at the resort, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in astatement.
All other children in the group are safe, have been identified, and will be taken back to their school by a bus, Cazeneuve said.
More than 80 people have been searching through the snow as part of rescue and recovery efforts.
Rescue dogs and a helicopter equipped with a thermal camera are also participating in the search, French police said on Twitter.