Nine killed, four missing in Mont Blanc massif avalanche

Reuters/Denis Balibouse

At least nine people were killed and six were missing Thursday by an avalanche on the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps, mountain police said.

Emergency services were dispatched to the scene.

One of the injured sounded the alert at around 5.25am after the avalanche on Mont Maudit, the massif's third-highest peak, that hit several roped groups of climbers.