They were skiing in the Les Deux Alpes area of Isère on a trail that had been closed due to avalanche fears, the AP added.
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Scores of rescue workers rushed to the scene of the avalanche, which followed heavy snow finally arriving in Alpine resorts.
Thanks to the emergency teams on site (trackers, monitors, mountain rescue units, police, avalanche dogs…) for their outstanding work and effectiveness.
He says: “The ski area took a long time to open up today because the avalanche risk was massive because we’ve got huge accumulations of snow and high winds up there”.
Three other students and the teacher were found after the avalanche, all of whom sustained injuries.
All the remaining pupils were safe and had been driven back to their school, the French education ministry said in a statement.
At least three people have died on Wednesday when a party of schoolchildren was struck by an avalanche in the French Alps. The other is reported to be a Ukrainian national.
One person was severely injured and rescuers are continuing to search for others.
The deadliest avalanche in France’s history occurred in 1970 when 39 people were killed when their chalet was hit by an avalanche at the Val d’Isere ski resort.
That fresh powder had yet to settle, increasing the risk of an avalanche.
The two who died were a boy of 14 and a 16-year-old girl from Saint-Exupery high school in Lyon.
Among the injured, two pupils were said to have suffered cardiac arrest while another was described as seriously hurt.
The resort has been closed since the beginning of the season due to lack of snow, but in recent days, a massive amount of snow fell on the French Alps.
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“It is absolutely incomprehensible that a group will head down this slope at ten to four in the afternoon, with darkness about the fall, and to be so high on what were closed black-graded slopes”.
