Five Britons, two Spaniards missing after French avalanche

PARIS - The Associated Press

A picture taken on September 16, 2010, shows the Mont-Blanc in the French Alps, at right, are the Mont Maudit and the Dome du Gouter. AFP photo

Five Britons and two Spaniards were missing on Thursday after an avalanche swept over a group of climbers in the French Alps, police said.
 
Six people -- two Germans, two Swiss and two Spaniards -- were killed in the avalanche and nine people injured, police said.

The gendarme service in Chamonix says they were alerted around 5:25 a.m. (0325GMT) today to the avalanche on Mont Maudit, part of the Mont Blanc range.
 
Several dozen gendarmes and other rescuers and two helicopters worked to pull the six dead and six injured from the mountain. The injured climbers were hospitalized, the gendarme service said.
 
About 28 climbers from several countries are believed to have taken part in the climbing expedition.