Rescue workers narrowly escape as they run from avalanche in French ski resort

Footage shows rescue workers running from the river of snow

Nerve-wracking footage captures the narrow escape of rescue workers running for cover from an avalanche.

Tumbling snow hurtles past the group in the ski resort town of Tignes, France, on Tuesday afternoon, video shows.

The torrent of snow cascades over a transit tunnel before sweeping towards rescue workers, who had been tasked with clearing the road from an earlier snowslide, and passersby.

As they work to clear the path another avalanche slides down the mountain sending them scattering.

Tignes is a high-altitude ski resort comprising a group of villages close to the Italian border.

Four snowboarders were killed by an avalanche in the same resort in February 2017. The season before that there were 45 incidents, with 21 deaths.

Avalanches kill more than 150 people worldwide each year. Most are snowmobilers, skiers, and snowboarders. The vast majority of fatal avalanches are thought to be triggered by the victim or someone in their party.

No injuries have been reported from the incident.