At least six people were killed in an avalanche in the French Alps on Sunday.
Eight others, understood to be hikers, escaped unhurt, while one person suffered injuries.
Rescue crews began scouring the area 20 miles from Chamonix in the Haute-Savoie region following the incident.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the disaster hit the Armancette glacier in the middle of the day.
Élisabeth Mollard, the deputy mayor, told French radio station RTL that two of the people who died were local tour guides.
The hikers were on the Armancette glacier at 11.30am when snow on the whole mountainside appeared to detach itself and come crashing down towards forests 1,600m below. One of the survivors suffered moderate injuries and was flown to hospital.
There was no avalanche alert in force but warm sunshine and a brisk wind appeared to have been a factor, officials said.
The glacier “is quite popular with experienced hikers at this time of year”, François Barbier, the mayor of Les Contamines-Montjoie, said.
“They climb on foot to the summit at 3,600m and come down on crosscountry skis. The refuges that give access to the glacier were full and the conditions were good yesterday.”
On the Swiss side of the Alps nine ski hikers were swept away but escaped unharmed or with minor injuries after being caught by a big avalanche on Saturday.
That avalanche was triggered near the summit of the Alphubel mountain in the Saas-Fee area close to the Italian border and near the Matterhorn and the resort of Zermatt.
In an average year about 30 people die in avalanches in the French Alps.
