Four people have been killed following an avalanche in the Savoie region of the French Alps, French media say.

Six skiers and a guide were swept away by the snowslide while skiing off-piste near the resort of Valmeinier, neighbouring Valloire, reports said.

They were reported to be a group of students from a school in the town of La Motte-Servolex in the Savoie region.

A seventh student was reportedly skiing with the group, but was not caught in the avalanche and raised the alarm.

The avalanche was said to be massive – loosing a shelf of snow 900m long and 600m wide, according to the website of the French newspaper Le Parisien.

It struck soon after midday (1100 GMT), with visibility poor amid foggy weather.

The last student was lagging behind and witnessed the avalanche sweeping the rest of his party away.

Search teams were deployed and a helicopter rescue team managed to locate the party and dig out all the victims and survivors.

Two of the survivors were said to have been injured.