“Six people in a tourist group of twelve have been caught in the slide,” Tor-Einar Eilertsen at the Troms police district told Norwegian news agency NTB.
Rescue coordinator Tore Vangsfjord said the tourists buried in the avalanche are all believed to be French, Norwegian newspaper VG reported.
The French embassy in Oslo has not yet received confirmation that the skiers affected were part of a French tour group.
“As yet we have no information about what happened beyond what has emerged in the media,” spokeswoman Cecilie Bjerknes Aare told VG.
The avalanche struck on Mount Sorbmegaisa in northern Troms shortly before 2.30pm.
“A medical helicopter is on the way and we have also requested assistance from the army,” said Eilertsen.
Rescue services in northern Norway said they were working to get rescue teams, avalanche dogs and helicopters to the scene.
The six people who escaped the snow slide are working hard to locate and rescue their fellow skiers, Eilertsen said.
The Local Norway