One dead after school group hit by French Alps avalanche

A 14-year-old boy was killed on Wednesday when an avalanche in the French Alps swept away a school group, leaving three seriously injured and five still missing, local officials said.

A group of nine students from Lyon were involved in the accident along with their teacher at the Deux Alpes resort in the east of France while skiing on a piste that was still closed to the public. A 14-year-old boy died after being engulfed by the snow, according to local government officials.

A police source said earlier four pupils had been found suffering cardiac arrest and the teacher was found unconscious after the avalanche. After a holiday season remarkably devoid of snow, significant snowfall in recent days has led to a high risk of avalanches across the French Alps. Four people have died since January in avalanches in the French Alps -- two Lithuanians, a Spaniard and a Czech.