An avalanche has claimed the lives of five soldiers who were training off piste at the Valfréjus station in the French Alps, not far from the Italian border,

The five were part of a group of 50 French Foreign legion soldiers who were training about 2,000 meters above sea.

Three helicopters were dispatched and 10 soldiers were found by with the help of search dogs.

The incident follows an avalanche last week that killed two students from Lyon and a Ukranian skier.

Euronews