Four French skiers have lost their lives in an avalanche near the village of Bourg-St-Pierre in the Swiss Alps, police in southwestern Switzerland say.
The avalanche occurred near the Croix de Tsousse summit on Saturday. The 11-member group appears to have been taking a popular high route between Chamonix and Zermatt.
Police said three of them were found dead and one of the injured later died while six other wounded people were flown to local hospitals.
A member of the group who managed to escape the snow-slide could give the alarm to the rescuers.
The other skiers were rescued by rescue teams with tracker dogs rushed by helicopter to the mountainous area, the Valais police told Swiss public radio.
"We still have one missing," said Jean-Marie Bornet, a spokesman for the police in the Swiss canton of Valais.
"There were 11. It's always a race against time. And based on the first elements, they were French," he added.
Switzerland's National Avalanche Center had warned of a "considerable" risk of snow-slides in the region on Saturday.
JM/AGB