This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Two people have died and 22 others have been injured after fire swept through a building in the French ski resort of Courchevel.

The fire spread rapidly after breaking out on an upper floor of the building, housing nearly 60 resort workers – many of them foreigners – some time after 4.30am on Sunday, forcing several residents to jump from windows.

Three of the four seriously injured victims were taken by helicopter to hospital. The bodies of the two killed were found by firefighters in the burned-out building.

The wooden building, a former hotel, was at Courchevel 1850, the highest hamlet in the French alpine ski station.

A local living opposite, who was one of the first on the scene, said he and other neighbours had rushed out after hearing shouts and screams.

“We picked up two people who had jumped from the third floor along with four or five others. We were standing there trying to cushion their fall,” the man, named as Adrien, told FranceInfo.

He said he had not heard any fire alarms from the building.

Videos posted on social media showed the ferocity of the blaze, with flames engulfing the building.

Eric Boix Vive, a local shopkeeper, told BFMT: “People were jumping from the balconies, from the windows.They were seasonal workers, bar workers all lodged in this hotel. At 4.35am there was smoke, three minutes later it was completely in flames.”

He said the building was “in the heart of the resort”. It was old but “very well-maintained”, he added.

Le Dauphiné, the local newspaper, reported that 130 firefighters and five doctors were at the scene. Five hours later, firefighters were still trying to put out the final flames as clouds of smoke rose from the ruins.

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire, officials said. Frédéric Loiseau, the local sub-prefect, said it was impossible to say whether the fire had broken out on the second or third floor.

Courchevel is part of Les Trois Vallées, the largest connected ski domain in the world, and hosted the 1992 Winter Olympics. The Courchevel 1850 village is known as the St Tropez of winter sports, attracting an exclusive clientele of royals and celebrities. It is a favourite with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, David and Victoria Beckham, George Clooney and the Saudi royal family.

The French interior minister, Christophe Castaner, tweeted condolences to the families and friends of the dead and paid tribute to the firefighters who tackled the blaze.