LYON – An Alpine avalanche in France killed two off-piste skiers on Tuesday, a local prosecutor’s office said, bringing the toll this winter from such accidents to 27.

A group of five skiers in the mountains near the resort town of La Grave in the French Alps were caught in the avalanche, said the prosecutor’s office in Gap, administrative capital of the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France.

One skier, who was guiding the group, was injured.

The other two skiers were unharmed, the office added, without providing further details on the skiers or the circumstances of the avalanche.

The avalanche risk in the La Grave area, on La Meije mountain, was “high” on Tuesday — 4 on a 5-point scale — due to a combination of fresh snow and wind, according to the French weather service.

The latest deaths brings to 27 the number of people killed in avalanches in France since the start of the season, with the majority occurring since January, including six over one weekend.

An avalanche killed three off-piste skiers, including two Britons, in the French Alps on Friday last week, a day after several ski resorts shut down due to the risk of snowslides.