Three dead and five seriously injured in Alps avalanche

President Francois Hollande has sent his condolences to families of the victims of an avalanche in the French Alps that hit a school party.

In a statement Hollande said the French education minister is on his way to Lyon "support the school community and the families".

Two teenagers, a 14-year-old boy and another 16-year-old from the Saint Exupery school in Lyon, were killed when the avalanche hit their group and the teacher. Another skier, from Ukraine, that was separate to the group was also killed.

The teacher and four others have been described as seriously injured in the avalanche that happened on a closed ski run on the Bellecombe Deux-Alpes trail .

Several groups of skiers dislodged a large snow slab, local councillor Gilles Strappazzon told BFM but it is unclear why the group had ventured onto the ski trail.

The death toll following an avalanche in the French Alps has risen to three, two school pupils and an adult skier from Ukraine, a press release from the Isere prefecture said.

The two teenage students were part of a group of 10 from Lyon St Exupéry who, accompanied by their teacher, were on the closed track when the avalanche struck.

The teacher, who was found unconscious is seriously injured alongside two other pupils who were in a state of cardiac arrest.

All members of the group have now been accounted for by rescue teams.

"The accompanying teacher was evacuated to the University Hospital of Grenoble," the statement said.

More than 60 people have been involved in the rescue operation including police and dog handlers. Two helicopters have been mobilised including one equipped with a thermal camera.

At least two people have died and three are "gravely injured" after an avalanche at the Deux Alpes ski resort in the French Alps.

One of the dead was a 14 year-old boy from Lyon who was among a group of 10 students swept away by the avalanche along with the adult accompanying them.

The body of a Ukrainian skier was also found by rescue teams, a spokesman for regional police said.

Five have been rescued including three people who were found in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest, police said.

The avalanche happened after a large sheet of snow broke off above a black-rated slope that had been closed following several days of heavy snowfall.

French television are reporting that a 14-year-old boy from Lyon has died following an avalanche on a ski trail in the Alps.

France TV said three others are seriously wounded.

"Five people have been found and searches are still underway," the head of the police unit, Bernard Host, told Reuters.

Three of the victims were in cardiac arrest, police said.

The avalanche occurred on a black-rated slope that had been closed after several days of heavy snowfall, the mayor of a nearby town told regional newspaper Le Dauphine Libere.

One person has died in an avalanche in the French Alps that engulfed 10 students and their teacher, police say.

Searchers were still looking for five missing schoolchildren, believed to be from Lyon, after the accident, according to BFM TV.

An avalanche has engulfed around 10 school pupils and a teacher, AFP reports.

Local media said that four have been injured, two seriously, in Isere on the Bellecombe Deux-Alpes trail with several missing.

The avalanche struck at 4pm local time and hit a group of secondary school pupils and their teacher.

Newspaper De Matin reported that the students were from Lyon and the teacher was found unconscious with two other students in cardiac arrest.