Briton, 18, killed in avalanche on Swiss Alps ski tour

A British teenager has died in an avalanche in Switzerland while on a ski tour, according to local police.

Two people were swept away by an avalanche early on Tuesday evening in Meiringen, in the canton of Bern.

An 18-year-old man from England, who was living in Bern, was found dead and the search for a second person believed to have been buried is ongoing, regional police said.

According to Swiss media, Bern police received a report at 4.25pm on Tuesday that "an avalanche had fallen near the Gstelliwang and two ski tourers had been buried".

The Gstelliwang is a ski slope on the northwest face of the Wellhorn, a mountain in the Bernese Alps at a height of around 2,117 metres.

A group of several people were understood to have been on a ski tour when two of them travelled down the slope, at which point an avalanche struck, initial findings suggest.

Citing Bern canton police, Swiss media said rescue crews were deployed immediately and found the 18-year-old Briton dead, but his name has not yet been released.

The ongoing search for the second person, whose age and sex is unknown, was interrupted at around 7.30pm and resumed at first light on Wednesday morning.

Swiss Alpine Rescue, helicopters, mountain specialists and police have joined the search effort.