An avalanche in the French Alps has swept away a military unit on a training exercise, killing five soldiers and injuring several others.
MP Julien Aubert confirmed the deaths to France-based BFM television, saying the soldiers were training off-piste in Valfrejus in the Savoie region.
He said the group was a mixture of veterans and new recruits.
Jean-Claude Raffin, mayor of Modane, the nearest town, said the soldiers were out for an all-day skiing session when the avalanche hit. He said six people were injured, three of them seriously.
High altitude
The group of about 50 soldiers were skiing at an altitude of around 2,000m (6,500ft).
Julien Noel, director of the ski area, said the location where the avalanche hit is well-known for skiing and normally is not known as particularly dangerous. He said the slopes were closed after the avalanche on Monday for safety reasons.
The incident comes just days after three people, including two students, were killed when a school group in the Alps was swept away by an avalanche.
Fresh snow
The avalanche risk has been high in the region, where fresh snow has fallen in recent days.
In the previous incident last Wednesday, an avalanche in the Deux Alpes resort hit a group of students from the Saint Exupery school in Lyon and their teacher
Two French high school students, aged 16 and 14, and a Ukrainian adult skier, who was not with their group, were killed in the incident.
According to initial reports by witnesses, the students were skiing on a slope that had been closed since the beginning of the season due to lack of snow.