Nine people were killed and eleven others injured in a massive avalanche on Mont Blanc in the French Alps on Thursday.

Local media say the avalanche occurred around 5:25 a.m. on Thursday as a 28-member climbing party ascended Mont Maudit, the third highest peak on Mont Blanc near the border of France and Italy.

Three Britons, three Germans, two Spanish and a Swiss climber are said to have lost their lives in the accident.