Two women climbers killed by rockfall in French Alps

Two French climbers were killed by a rockfall in the Alps on Wednesday, a local official said.

The two women fell 800 metres (2,600 feet) when they were carried away by a scree of stones in mid-afternoon on the La Grave resort in southeast France's Hautes-Alpes region, Raphael Balland said in a statement.

The victims had been part of a group of five, who had no professional accompaniment.

Rescue workers brought the other three members of the group. who were unscathed, to safety and an enquiry was launched into the deaths, the prosecutor said.