Bodies of three Italian skiers found after avalanche

ROME, Italy (AFP) - Rescuers on Friday recovered the bodies of three Italian skiers killed in an avalanche the day before in the Alps on the French-Italian border.

The bodies of three men, all Italian, were found early Friday and taken to the city of Aosta for formal identification, a spokesman for the Valdostano Alpine Rescue, Tiziano Trevisan, told AFP.

Their guide, an experienced off-piste skier, managed to free himself after the avalanche hit the Pointe de la Golette and raised the alarm.

He is in hospital, but his condition is not serious, Trevisan said.

Helicopters and ground rescue teams were unable to reach the site of the avalanche on Thursday due to poor weather conditions.

At an altitude of 3,100 metres (10,170 feet), the Pointe de la Golette is an alpine peak on the border between the Aosta Valley in Italy and France's Savoy, east of France's popular Val D'Isere ski area.

Six people were killed on Sunday when an avalanche hit near Mont Blanc, on the French side of the border with Italy.