Alps avalanche kills French schoolgirl and Ukrainian

A 14-year-old French schoolgirl and a Ukrainian tourist have been killed in an avalanche in the French Alps, officials said.

Five more members of a group of nine pupils from Lyon are still missing, police said.

The avalanche struck the group, their teacher and the Ukrainian on a closed piste in the Les Deux Alpes area.

At least two of the survivors are in a state of cardiac arrest and one more is in a serious condition.

Earlier reports said the pupil who had died was a boy.

Rescuers with dogs and helicopters are on the scene.

The BBC's Tim Rhodes in Les Deux Alpes tweeted that he had seen one person recovered from the snow.

Witnesses told the France Bleu radio station that the avalanche was likely to have been triggered by groups skiing through the area.

The Bellecombe piste is situated on a particularly icy north-facing side of mountain, the radio station said. It is black-rated - the most difficult level.

Large quantities of snow have fallen on the French Alps after a relatively dry spell, raising the risk of avalanches.

Four other people - two Lithuanians, a Spaniard and a Czech - have died since January in avalanches in the French Alps, AFP reported.