LYON (AFP) - Two people died on Sunday (Jan 20) and 14 more were injured, four seriously, in a major fire at the ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps, officials said.

The pre-dawn blaze forced the evacuation of some 60 resort workers, including foreigners, from a three-storey accommodation building.

Firemen found the two bodies in a burnt-out area of the building.

Three of the four badly injured were flown to hospital by helicopter, the local officials said.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known but around 70 firemen had brought it under control by daybreak.