Two Britons among three dead in French Alps avalanche

Two Britons and one French person have died in an avalanche in the French Alps on Friday.

The British pair were part of a group of five people skiing off-piste with an instructor in the Manchet valley, near Val d'Isère, a spokeswoman for the resort told the BBC.

The French national was skiing alone when the avalanche struck at 11:30 local time (10:30 GMT), Albertville prosecutor Benoit Bachelet said in a statement announcing the deaths.

Another British person has minor injuries, he added.

A manslaughter investigation has now been launched by the Albertville public prosecutor's office and will be carried out by CRS Alpes mountain rescue police.

The ski instructor, who was unharmed, tested negative after taking alcohol and drug tests, according to Bachelet.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office told the BBC they are aware of the death of the two British men and they are "in contact with the local authorities and stand ready to offer consular assistance".

Val d'Isère already experienced avalanches this winter, with one person dying in the resort of Tignes nearby last month.

France's national weather service had issued a red alert for avalanche risk across the Savoie region on Thursday, which was then lifted on Friday. But the risk level remained high across the Alps with "very unstable snow cover".

The avalanche comes in the wake of Storm Nils, which passed through France the day before, leaving between 60cm and 100cm of snow, the weather service said.

There have been a number of fatal avalanches in the region in recent weeks, including the death of a British man off-piste skiing at the La Plagne resort in January.

"We have had some very complicated, very unstable snow since the beginning of the season," Luc Nicolino, slopes manager at La Plagne, told AFP.

"It's a kind of mille-feuille with many hidden, fragile layers."

Have you been affected by the avalanche in the French Alps? If it is safe to do so, please get in touch here.