Three skiers have died in the French Alps after they went off-piste and were caught in an avalanche, French authorities said on Friday.

The victims were part of a group of six who entered the mountains with a ski instructor in the Val d’Isère area in southeastern France. Their identities and nationalities were not immediately released.

Local officials said the group had mandatory avalanche safety equipment with them but still set out despite official warnings of heightened avalanche danger.

The incident comes after Storm Nils brought heavy snowfall to the French Alps this week, forcing some ski resorts to shut down slopes entirely on Thursday. On Friday, many ski areas across the region remained under the second-highest avalanche warning level, underscoring the continued instability of snow conditions.

In a statement, the Val d’Isère municipality urged all skiers to remain on marked slopes and strictly follow safety recommendations, warning that the risk of avalanches remains elevated.