Four people have been killed after an avalanche hit a popular skiing resort in Austria.

Two people were injured and five or six people remain missing.

The avalanche struck the Kitzsteinhorn mountain in Kaprun, 80km (50 miles) south-west of Salzburg at about 1400 local time (1200 GMT).

Police in Zell am See said a search party and five rescue helicopters had been sent to the area.

State broadcaster ORF said 12 to 14 people were missing.

The BBC's Katya Adler in Vienna said sniffer dogs would be sent to the area, an all-year ski resort, around 40km (25 miles) south of the German border.

The resort is popular with intermediate to advanced skiers, with about 130 km (80 miles) of ski slopes and can house about 14,000 tourists.

Alpine regions have been on the alert for avalanches in recent weeks.

At the end of December, nine German skiers were killed in an avalanche near the Tyrolean resort of Galtuer. The village was also the scene of Austria's worst Alpine disaster in decades in February 1999, when 31 people were killed.