Lyon: An avalanche has killed two off-piste ski tourers in the French Alps, a local prosecutor said on Sunday.
According to local rescue services, the two men died when an avalanche was triggered on Saturday afternoon near the village of Saint-Veran, known as the highest village in the French Alps.
The two victims -- one born in 1997 and the other in 1991 -- were part of a group of four unguided skiers when a "large-scale" avalanche swept down the north side of the Tete de Longet mountain peak, Gap prosecutor Marion Lozac'hmeur told AFP.
The other two skiers were unharmed, Lozac'hmeur added.
An autopsy has been ordered as part of an investigation into the cause of death, according to the prosecutor.
Avalanches have already claimed the lives of more than 20 skiers across the French, Swiss and Austrian Alps so far this season.
