Rescuers worked into the night Wednesday looking for victims of an avalanche that struck in the French Alps, killing at least two people and overwhelming others on a closed slope, officials said.
The incident happened around 4 p.m. (10 a.m. ET) near Les Deux Alpes, a ski resort about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Grenoble, a representative of the tourism office in that area said.
Gilles Strappazzon, an official in the regional Isere government, told CNN affiliate BFMTV that at least two people — a Ukrainian national and a 14-year-old student — died in the avalanche.
The very steep slope — about 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) above sea level — where the avalanche occurred had been closed for the day, according to Strappazzon.
That area had a Level 3 out of five avalanche risk, meaning there was an above average risk of ruptures at high altitudes. Les Deux Alpes reported 33 centimeters (13 inches) of fresh snow on Wednesday alone, a significant amount following a relatively dry and mild December.
A worker at CHU de Grenoble said that helicopters were transporting injured to that hospital.
France’s Gendarmerie Nationale, or national police, tweeted that a military brigade and dog handlers were at the avalanche site.
So, too, was a helicopter equipped with a thermal camera — presumably to detect signs of anyone who might be buried in the snow.
Eric Arnol, a ski guide at Les Deux Alpes, told BFMTV that the work to find those dead or buried continued even after the sun set in the mountainous region.