Father and two sons killed alongside tour guide in French Alps avalanche after being engulfed during half-term snowboarding trip

According to the head of CRS post in Courchevel, the avalanche took place in an area where the snow stacks and can not be evacuated.

It could take some time to find the buried victims, officials warned.

Local high mountain police spokesman Emmanuel Dubost said ‘two helicopters are the scene’ trying to find the others, only two of whom are so far accounted for.

One was in a critical condition as he was pulled out of the snow at around 1.30pm, but ‘most of the others’ were still buried.

He said rescue workers supported by sniffer dogs were working frantically to try and dig bodies out.

Mr Dubost said the identities and nationalities of those involved had not been established, but they were all thought to be advanced skiers.

One of those involved in the accident was a qualified mountain ski guide, said Mr Dubost.

He said it had been a black weekend in the Alps, with two skiers dying in the Haute-Savoie department of France.

The first had been skiing off piste in Praz-sur-Arly sector of the mountains, when he too was hit by an avalanche.

Another skier died in the same manner at La Clusaz, after being unable to get away from a vast moving mound of impacted snow and ice.

The avalanche has come at a particularly busy time of year, with many families celebrating half term on the slopes.

The Geordie Shore cast are filming at the ski resort at the moment.

It is not known if any of the stars have been caught up in the tragedy.

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