10 Missing After Mont Blanc Avalanche

Rescue teams and France's interior minister say there is little hope of saving several climbers swept away by an avalanche in the Mont Blanc range.

A wall of snow 200 metres long and about 45 metres wide hit the climbers early Sunday, French authorities say.

They include five Austrians and three Swiss. Another eight people were injured and taken to nearby hospitals.

The avalanche was set off by a falling block of ice at around 3 a.m. Sunday.

Three helicopters, dozens of rescue workers, doctors, Alpine guides and sniffer dogs have joined a vast search.

France's interior minister was on her way to the mountains to visit eight survivors -- three Italians and five French -- who were pulled from the snow and for a briefing on the search for other victims, her office said.

The climbers were on the 4,250-metre (13,900-feet) high Mont-Blanc du Tacul when they were hit by a massive wall of snow around 3:00 am (0100 GMT). A mountain guide raised the alarm around 3:15 am.

"It's probable, according to statements made to us, that groups of climbers roped together were on the path up the mountain as well as in the place where the block of ice tumbled down," Eric Fournier, the mayor of nearby Chamonix, told AFP.