An avalanche struck a popular French Alps ski resort Tuesday morning, slamming into a ski run. Local authorities say a number of skiers using the run may have been buried or swept away.
Local emergency search and rescue teams were called out to a ski resort in Tignes on Tuesday after an avalanche thundered into a ski run at the resort.
The avalanche struck shortly after 10 a.m. local time on the medium-level blue ski slope called "Carline" in the Tignes Val Claret area.
There has been no immediate confirmation of any injuries or fatalities, the L'Express newspaper reported, but police have confirmed that several skiers were buried by the avalanche.
A major rescue operation is now underway and the ski station has been shut down. Staff members have been sent to the affected area to search for survivors.
"According to witnesses, there are many people under the avalanche," a regional spokesman for the French Gendarmerie told the local Dauphiné Liberé newspaper.
Last month, four snowboarders were killed when an avalanche hit an off-piste area of the same resort. Tignes said that it appeared to have been set off by a group of skiers higher up.