British girl dies in French Alps after skier crashes into her 'at high speed'

Five-year-old girl was killed after being hit 'violently' by another skier during a lesson in Flaine

File photo: Skiers ride down a slope on December 20, 2021 at Courchevel ski resort in the French Alps. AFP

A five-year-old British girl has been killed in a collision on a ski slope in the Alps, according to French media.

The girl was one of five children taking part in a ski lesson in Flaine, in the Haute-Savoie region of France, when she was “violently” struck by another skier who lost control on Saturday morning, according to France Bleu.

The child, said to have been living in Geneva, Switzerland, is reported to have been hit near the edge of a blue slope, Les Serpentines.

Efforts to revive the girl, reportedly aided by a doctor on the scene, were unsuccessful. She died while being taken to hospital in a helicopter.

A 40-year-old man has been arrested and a manslaughter investigation has been opened, the outlet said.

According to France Bleu, a statement from the Bonneville prosecutor’s office, which has opened the case, said: “The child was in a queue behind the group and was about to make a right turn when she was very violently hit by a skier going at high speed who tried in vain to avoid her.”