GRENOBLE, France: Seven people were killed Tuesday when an avalanche swept them away in the French Alps, a local official told AFP, the deadliest snowslide to hit the popular mountain range this year.

The avalanche struck around midday at the Snow Dome in the Alps’ Massif des Ecrins, an easy-to-access 4,015-meter (13,170-feet) high mountain that is hugely popular with climbers.

Rescuers, backed by three helicopters and sniffer dogs, were dispatched to the scene but local official Pierre Besnard said search operations had now ended and the bodies of the climbers were being transported down.

Besnard said seven people had died, and one had been injured.