Three killed in French Alps

Three people hiking on skis were killed in two separate avalanches in the French Alps yesterday, rescue officials confirmed today.

A couple fell 656 feet to their deaths while ascending the Grand-Mont peak in the Savoie region after an icy outcropping they were standing on gave way, a mountain rescue official said.

An Italian man was killed as he climbed with friends in the Haute-Alpes region.

The friends tried to rescue the man, in his sixties, but he died before help could arrive, officials said.

An average of 25-30 people are killed in avalanches in France in the winter season.