Two people have been killed in a major fire at the ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps. The pre-dawn blaze Sunday forced the evacuation of some 60 resort workers, including foreigners, from a three-storey accommodation building.
According to local newspaper Le Dauphine Libéré, the fire began started around 4:30 am on the first and top floor of the resort. Guests were seen climbing over the balconies. Around thirty people who were affected by smoke were treated in the La Croisette hotel.
Firemen found two bodies in a burnt-out area of the building.
According to the prefecture, four people were severely injured. Three of them were flown to hospital by helicopter. Eighteen others sustained minor injuries, with around 60 affected by smoke inhalation.
Around 70 firemen brought the blaze under control by 7:15 am.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Emilie Bonnivard, MP for the Savoie department, expressed her sympathy for the victims on her facebook page and thanked the firemen for their "remarkable work under extremely difficult circumstances."
